The Role Playing Public Radio Forums
General Category => Role Playing Public Radio Podcast => : crash2455 January 25, 2011, 06:45:50 PM
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Caleb, though you are new to RPPR and gaming in general, clearly you have a lot of talent in this craft. All of your PCs are totally awesome, and I just learned that Andrew's Fortune was not only your first time as a GM, but also a scenario you wrote yourself after playing 3 or 4 disjointed games and reading a tutorial from the CoC rulebook. I have been GMing for several months and have no idea how I'd write a scenario for a Dirty World, let alone one so memorable.
I hereby dedicate this thread to Caleb and all of his mad genius. Shine on you crazy devil, shine on.
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Seconded! Rarely have a heard such fine craftsmanship. Caleb nearly forced a state mandated reporter to leave the room while covering their ears. That's roleplaying.
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He is very very very very good.
We're thinking about replacing ross with him.
Ross may even agree.
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Dude, I'm so in on this. You rock Caleb.
Also, if you have any tips for "doing voices" or inspiration for your NPCs share 'em!
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He is very very very very good.
We're thinking about replacing ross with him.
Ross may even agree.
Hey, does that mean Caleb might be at GenCon? Cus I would totally like to rub my dice against him for luck. It might take awhile, I have alot of dice.
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Caleb, though you are new to RPPR and gaming in general, clearly you have a lot of talent in this craft. All of your PCs are totally awesome, and I just learned that Andrew's Fortune was not only your first time as a GM, but also a scenario you wrote yourself after playing 3 or 4 disjointed games and reading a tutorial from the CoC rulebook. I have been GMing for several months and have no idea how I'd write a scenario for a Dirty World, let alone one so memorable.
I hereby dedicate this thread to Caleb and all of his mad genius. Shine on you crazy devil, shine on.
Holy dear god that was his first time?
Wow.
Also, Caleb's character in Aaron's version of The Haunting was fantastic. Too bad that game will never be posted.
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who said it wouldn't? We gotta have something for April's Fools 8)
Also, Caleb just got Eclipse Phase and wants to run it.
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Also, Caleb just got Eclipse Phase and wants to run it.
This makes me so very happy.
Caleb, you're awesome and Andrew's Fortune was great. Hope the Eclipse Phase game goes well too.
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Love the voices, wish that I could be more like that in my games...
All told, you did a killer job, and it was fun to hear the game run by someone other than Ross...
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:'(
I fucking love the bit in Andrew's Fortune where the cop is on the phone and says "well I didn't know it was your sandwich. I'll buy you a new one."
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I have a fan club thread??!?!??! :o
I tearing up over here. Thanks for all the love everyone!
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:'(
I fucking love the bit in Andrew's Fortune where the cop is on the phone and says "well I didn't know it was your sandwich. I'll buy you a new one."
No, Ross, I love your GMing, it's just variety is the spice of life that's all. Nice to have some variety...
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:'(
I fucking love the bit in Andrew's Fortune where the cop is on the phone and says "well I didn't know it was your sandwich. I'll buy you a new one."
I re-listened to Part 2 while running errands the other day and cracked up laughing in the grocery store at that point.
I have a fan club thread??!?!??! :o
I tearing up over here. Thanks for all the love everyone!
Hell yeah, dude, you deserve it.
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That was his first time running a game??? WOW :o Can't wait for the next one! Andrew's Fortune was fantastic.
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That was his first time running a game??? WOW :o Can't wait for the next one! Andrew's Fortune was fantastic.
Yeah i was blown away too, Andrews fortune was a really well written and run plot. The voice acting was top knotch also.
Lots of talent in the lad.
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I heard Caleb invented the mechanical ghouls that speak in announcer voice that lurk in the walls of Tom's bedroom.
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HE GOES ABOUT 7 FOOT 8, 540 POUNDS. HE CAN PALM A MEDICINE BALL.
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If he can run Eclipse Phase and have the game be understandable to the listeners than he might be the greatest GM I have ever encounter.
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So when do Caleb and Ross duel to the death for GM of RPPR?
...that's how this works, right?
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So when do Caleb and Ross duel to the death for GM of RPPR?
...that's how this works, right?
I don't think Ross is likely to duel to the death for anything. Not that I doubt he'd siv a dude, I just don't think you'd be able to call the situation a duel.
Just had a passing though but Eclipse Phase is kind of like this RPG generation's Wrath: The Oblivion. I hear alot of people talking about it and how much fun it would be and nobody seemed to actually play it.
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So when do Caleb and Ross duel to the death for GM of RPPR?
...that's how this works, right?
I don't think Ross is likely to duel to the death for anything. Not that I doubt he'd siv a dude, I just don't think you'd be able to call the situation a duel.
Just had a passing though but Eclipse Phase is kind of like this RPG generation's Wrath: The Oblivion. I hear alot of people talking about it and how much fun it would be and nobody seemed to actually play it.
Hmm. I propose a duel of wits!
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STOP PROPOSING DUELS
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS
NEXT THING YOU KNOW
THUNDERDOME
TOM HAS A CRUSHED SKULL FROM A WEIGHTED D20, AARON HAS BEEN IMPALED BY A KEYBLADE, CODY'S BLEEDING OUT FROM A THOUSAND PAPERCUTS FROM MINT CONDITION FOIL COVER DEATH OF SUPERMAN COMICS, JASON'S BEEN EATEN BY LITTLE PEOPLE, BILL'S BEEN DECAPITATED AND CALEB IS COVERED IN BLOOD, INSANE, MISSING A LEG FROM A BEAR TRAP AND BABBLING ABOUT LADY GAGA. AND ME? I'M ON FIRE. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ME ON FIRE? YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER
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So when do Caleb and Ross duel to the death for GM of RPPR?
...that's how this works, right?
I don't think Ross is likely to duel to the death for anything. Not that I doubt he'd siv a dude, I just don't think you'd be able to call the situation a duel.
Just had a passing though but Eclipse Phase is kind of like this RPG generation's Wrath: The Oblivion. I hear alot of people talking about it and how much fun it would be and nobody seemed to actually play it.
Ehh. We've run and played it, but as most things in our groups hands- it turned a little zany.
we did have transhuman horror, different bodies, space, space mice, corporations taking over venus, sapient dolphins, orangs, corgies, and a 13 year old in a gorilla's body.
But I eventually got sick of having to look-up the technology every-time. It was very cowboybebop-totalrecall-palmereldritch-reboot-GONZO-murderhappy-spacerape-clusterfucky-awesome.
If you're going to run it, just go for it. Don't mull it over too long or instead of playing- you won't.
How long has Ross been whining about wanting to run it? I think this next GenCon will mark the one year.
Caleb- I believe in you. Like Nike says, "Just doit."
And yes Ross, we want you on fire so Tom can make fun of your flaming announcer voice. BaZing!
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STOP PROPOSING DUELS
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS
NEXT THING YOU KNOW
THUNDERDOME
TOM HAS A CRUSHED SKULL FROM A WEIGHTED D20, AARON HAS BEEN IMPALED BY A KEYBLADE, CODY'S BLEEDING OUT FROM A THOUSAND PAPERCUTS FROM MINT CONDITION FOIL COVER DEATH OF SUPERMAN COMICS, JASON'S BEEN EATEN BY LITTLE PEOPLE, BILL'S BEEN DECAPITATED AND CALEB IS COVERED IN BLOOD, INSANE, MISSING A LEG FROM A BEAR TRAP AND BABBLING ABOUT LADY GAGA. AND ME? I'M ON FIRE. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ME ON FIRE? YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER
Yes, because then, as in all things, I win.
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STOP PROPOSING DUELS
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS
NEXT THING YOU KNOW
THUNDERDOME
TOM HAS A CRUSHED SKULL FROM A WEIGHTED D20, AARON HAS BEEN IMPALED BY A KEYBLADE, CODY'S BLEEDING OUT FROM A THOUSAND PAPERCUTS FROM MINT CONDITION FOIL COVER DEATH OF SUPERMAN COMICS, JASON'S BEEN EATEN BY LITTLE PEOPLE, BILL'S BEEN DECAPITATED AND CALEB IS COVERED IN BLOOD, INSANE, MISSING A LEG FROM A BEAR TRAP AND BABBLING ABOUT LADY GAGA. AND ME? I'M ON FIRE. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ME ON FIRE? YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER
DEAR SWEET SCIENCE WHAT HAVE I WROUGHT
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Caleb, though you are new to RPPR and gaming in general, clearly you have a lot of talent in this craft. All of your PCs are totally awesome, and I just learned that Andrew's Fortune was not only your first time as a GM, but also a scenario you wrote yourself after playing 3 or 4 disjointed games and reading a tutorial from the CoC rulebook. I have been GMing for several months and have no idea how I'd write a scenario for a Dirty World, let alone one so memorable.
I hereby dedicate this thread to Caleb and all of his mad genius. Shine on you crazy devil, shine on.
Been saying this since Gaga 2.0.
Caleb is a fantastic player and a great GM.
I'd love to hear him do a CoC or Fear itself game.
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TOM HAS A CRUSHED SKULL FROM A WEIGHTED D20, AARON HAS BEEN IMPALED BY A KEYBLADE, CODY'S BLEEDING OUT FROM A THOUSAND PAPERCUTS FROM MINT CONDITION FOIL COVER DEATH OF SUPERMAN COMICS, JASON'S BEEN EATEN BY LITTLE PEOPLE, BILL'S BEEN DECAPITATED AND CALEB IS COVERED IN BLOOD, INSANE, MISSING A LEG FROM A BEAR TRAP AND BABBLING ABOUT LADY GAGA. AND ME? I'M ON FIRE. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ME ON FIRE? YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER
Well, I mean, the show's eventually going to end. Once Ross is publishing holoscripts in Neo-Hollywood he's gonna be too busy with snorting syn-coke off of alien hookers to do a podcast, which in 2032 replaces Ham Radio as the losers 'sport' of choice. Mid-West Podcast Thunderdome could be, like, a get together in a couple decades. See old friends. Kill them. You know, fun. For us.
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STOP PROPOSING DUELS
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS
NEXT THING YOU KNOW
THUNDERDOME
TOM HAS A CRUSHED SKULL FROM A WEIGHTED D20, AARON HAS BEEN IMPALED BY A KEYBLADE, CODY'S BLEEDING OUT FROM A THOUSAND PAPERCUTS FROM MINT CONDITION FOIL COVER DEATH OF SUPERMAN COMICS, JASON'S BEEN EATEN BY LITTLE PEOPLE, BILL'S BEEN DECAPITATED AND CALEB IS COVERED IN BLOOD, INSANE, MISSING A LEG FROM A BEAR TRAP AND BABBLING ABOUT LADY GAGA. AND ME? I'M ON FIRE. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ME ON FIRE? YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER
Yes, because then, as in all things, I win.
YOU WERE KILLED BEFORE THE FIGHT. EVERYONE BETRAYED YOU AND YOU WERE TORN APART. BY WILD HORSES. DRAWN AND QUARTERED, THAT'S YOU, THAT IS.
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Well, I mean, the show's eventually going to end. Once Ross is publishing holoscripts in Neo-Hollywood he's gonna be too busy with snorting syn-coke off of alien hookers to do a podcast, which in 2032 replaces Ham Radio as the losers 'sport' of choice. Mid-West Podcast Thunderdome could be, like, a get together in a couple decades. See old friends. Kill them. You know, fun. For us.
Wow, now I'm actually looking forward to the dystopian Cyberpunk future! :D
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YOU WERE KILLED BEFORE THE FIGHT. EVERYONE BETRAYED YOU AND YOU WERE TORN APART. BY WILD HORSES. DRAWN AND QUARTERED, THAT'S YOU, THAT IS.
That was a stunt double.
I have to pay his widow hazard pay now.
I hope you're happy.
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YES. SO HAPPY. I'M ON FIRE OR DID YOU MISS THAT?
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YES. SO HAPPY. I'M ON FIRE OR DID YOU MISS THAT?
It's okay! The burn-y outside matches the fiery thirst for revenge inside your heart.
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+1 to Caleb running a CoC session!
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I'd been wanting to try CoC for awhile but couldn't afford the book. But Ross directed me to the quick-start rules online last week, and there appears to be some demand on here (I interpret demand as two people), so I spent today writing an adventure called "Bryson Springs". It's for 4 to 5 players and set in rural California during the Depression. On the off-chance it doesn't suck--or we can revise it not to suck after the fact--I'll post the document and links to my research on here if/when we play it.
Regardless of whether or not it ever sees the light of day, CoC is a fun system to write in--and a little less prep-heavy than even Dirty World, in my opinion. Most of all, thank you again, internet friends, for encouraging me and getting me writing again.
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Man. Please, please run a CoC game. Yours would be epic.
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\ It's for 4 to 5 players and set in rural California during the Depression.
Ah, so it's a modern game?
A-WHOA *bowtie spin*
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjp-btXPgSQ
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Caleb, you are the man. Obviously you're no Tom Church, but you're pretty fucking awesome!
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Oh man. We need more Caleb. What's with the lack of Caleb in the APs posted lately, Ross? C'MON
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So I know I'm way behind on APs, but I'm doing my best to catch up and just finished Andrew's Fortune Part 2. Let me just say, I loved the way it just descended into chaos and it sounded like a blast to play in (basically from the police station onward)...
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Caleb ran a game of CoC. I shall post it soon. :O
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Blessings and praise upon Ross!
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Caleb ran a game of CoC. I shall post it soon. :O
Sweet!
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Caleb, you beautiful bastard. You've done it again.
Bryson Springs is in-fucking-credible.
You actively scared Ross in a CoC game. Incredible.
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Agreed! Bryson Springs was amazing! I just finished listening to it about an hour ago. Without giving anything away, I have to say that Caleb's descriptions are top notch. I hope he ends up doing another CoC session again, because I'd love to see his spin on a "Mythos" character or storyline.
Keep 'em comin' dude. U rock!
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Just finished listening to your CoC scenario Caleb.
Your writing is amazing, your pacing is amazing, everything about this scenario was amazing...
Keep writing my friend, your stuff is brilliant!
I would love to run this for my group if you ever get the chance to post your notes...
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Just finished listening to your CoC scenario Caleb.
Your writing is amazing, your pacing is amazing, everything about this scenario was amazing...
Keep writing my friend, your stuff is brilliant!
I would love to run this for my group if you ever get the chance to post your notes...
SAME. roleplaying hicks sounds like too much fun.
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I love your timing when jumping from scene to scene. You know just how far to let the crazy go before jump cutting to another scene.
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This thing creeped me the hell out. Especially the first time one showed up. Damn, damn creepy. Not something I should listen to late at night just before going to bed.
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Don't listen to the CoC APs when you're sitting in a boat's cockpit at 2am pulling archor watch, in a thick layer of fog, with cliffs looming up on one side, rigging clanking as the boat rises and falls with the waves.
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Thank you so much for the kind words! Y'all made my day!
I'm finding I tend to write these things for myself only (sentence frags, abbreviations, lots of arrows instead of transitions, etc), so the notes won't do anyone much good right now. Currently, I'm trying to come up with something for A Dirty World to play at Gencon. After I get that hashed out, I'll work on fleshing things out for Bryson and making everything legible. I'll upload whatever results on the forum when it is done. Promise.
Again, thanks to everybody. I can't tell you how nice it is to feel welcome.
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Don't listen to the CoC APs when you're sitting in a boat's cockpit at 2am pulling archor watch, in a thick layer of fog, with cliffs looming up on one side, rigging clanking as the boat rises and falls with the waves.
Ok that's awesome in of itself. We need a 'where do you listen to RPPR?' thread.
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Currently, I'm trying to come up with something for A Dirty World to play at Gencon.
I'm so down for playing in that if there's room. Ever since Andrew's Fortune I've even been looking into running a one-shot of a DW game for my group.
Also dude you are very welcome.
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Thank you so much for the kind words! Y'all made my day!
I'm finding I tend to write these things for myself only (sentence frags, abbreviations, lots of arrows instead of transitions, etc), so the notes won't do anyone much good right now. Currently, I'm trying to come up with something for A Dirty World to play at Gencon. After I get that hashed out, I'll work on fleshing things out for Bryson and making everything legible. I'll upload whatever results on the forum when it is done. Promise.
Again, thanks to everybody. I can't tell you how nice it is to feel welcome.
That game had better get recorded. Ross, I'm looking at you.
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I'm going to echo everyone else in the thread and congratulate on your skills Caleb. The fact you spun whole-cloth the background for the creature was epic in and of itself. Tying it into a little girl's ditty about her toy? Fucking priceless.
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Best 6 hours on iTunes. Evar. Caleb + Aaron = Splendiferousness.
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Ross, I think need to have Caleb on for a regular episode.
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Ross, I didn't know where to put this, so feel free to move it if it fits better elsewhere.
I'm writing up a Delta Green thing for GenCon but don't have copies of the books yet. I understand that the mechanics are the same, but in playing it, I noticed that lingo played a pretty big role.
Here's the DC code-speak I know so far:
"You are invited to a night at the opera." = you are going on a Delta Green mission
"Eliminate the vector" = kill the mythos-affected character/thing
Cells = teams are organized by alphabetized cells and each members code name starts with that letter
...and that's about it.
I'm making up a monster again so I'm not too concerned about mythos stuff, but I'd like to get the organizational stuff down as I write it. What are the other code words/phrases used in a Delta Green scenario? Any help?
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The games I've run borrowed military and federal agency terms. I suggest borrowing from this list for ideas:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/220336/Military-Brevity-Code
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There's a DG wiki http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com - a lot of the material is fan based though not canonical
this is DG's core structure
Delta Green is now organized on a cell structure, with each cell consisting of three Agents (those aware of the illegal nature of Delta Green) and multiple Friendlies (those decieved into believing that Delta Green still works for the American government). The cells are named alphabetically (Cell A through Cell Z), with cell Agents code-named accordingly (e.g. Agents Roland, Richard, and Roy for Cell R). Cell hierarchy is ambigious, but the command cell of Delta Green is Cell A, consisting of Alphonse, Adam, and (possibly) Andrea.
Green boxes are DG storage sites http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/green-box
General DG tradecraft discussed here http://fairfieldproject.wikidot.com/tradecraft
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Thanks a ton, guys! That stuff is just what I needed. Here's the mission briefing I plan on giving players. Tell me what you think.
[spoiler]To: Q
From: Andrea
Subject: A Night at the Opera (attachment: Cyrano de Bergerac)
STATUS: PARROT reports breach of GREEN BOX 224, hereafter DESIGNATE as PACKAGE at 0246 hours Jan 4th. DESIGNATE “Zookeeper” CONFIRMS at 0815 Jan. 5th. A-Cell BLIND on the ground due to weather. Q-cell ABORT current OBJECTIVE. New mission LOAD-OUT found in TRANSPORT with one FRIENDLY Pvt. W.
MISSION PRIORITIES: CONTAINMENT of PACKAGE is highest priority. Agents should take all care to maintain OPERATIONAL SECURITY.
TARGET ONE: Establish CONTACT with “Zookeeper.”
CHALLENGE: “Would you like to go to the zoo?”
AUTHENTICATE: “Yes, but only if I can stay outside.”
TARGET TWO: Establish HOME PLATE at “Zookeeper’s” office and move to ASSESS PACKAGE.
TARGET THREE: TRANSPORT PACKAGE to HOME PLATE.
TARGET FOUR: Split into two units
UNIT ALPHA: PLAY ZEPPO. GO SECURE using hardline modem at HOME PLATE and INVENTORY PACKAGE. Warning: minimum intelligence encouraged. Beware TOME ROT
UNIT BETA: INVESTIGATE surrounding area for signs of NORWEIGIAN contamination.
TARGET FIVE: A-Cell will DECLARE THREATS from BOX 224. Units REGROUP and REASSESS with new intelligence.
TARGET SIX: If HOSTILES present, Q-Cell CLEARED HOT for 48 hours until ALPHABET SOUP DEPLOYMENT. ELIMINATE THE VECTOR
MISSION SUCCESS: PACKAGE SECURED and OPERATIONAL SECURITY maintained until DUCK SOUP specialist arrives.
MISSION FAILURE: If no NEW PICTURE established via HOME PLATE hardline by 0500 Jan. 8th, CYCLOPS will place BLUE/BLUE BIRDS in the air and SEPPPUKU PROTOCOL will be in effect for Q-cell and all relatives.
(Scrubber software will initiate automatically in one minute)
[/spoiler]
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It has all the mix of real information and head scratching that I've come to expect from a Delta Green mission.
I'd suggest having a "plain language" copy behind the screen and letting the players who want more information try to decode the message, especially if the character their using isn't from the same coding background.
Making them work to get fairly basic information helps to reinforce one of my favorite axiums of Delta Green: "Delta Green's security is more important than your life".
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I like it provided that the cryptic nature of the message plays a significant role in the game. Problem solving and code cracking is a lot of fun, and fits in very well with investigation style games - especially DG. Well done on the DG code lingo. I'm very interested to see how this runs.
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I'd sign up for the DG emai list and post the message there. http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dglist/
The hardcore DG nerds will finetune the message for you and you can email specific members for advice so I won't be spoiled.
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Relistening to Andrew's Fortune. Whatever the next noir game, I want to see the return of the desk cop who tackled Cody. I envision a small man with glasses and short wild hair, fresh sandwich wrapper in hand, leaping onto his desk and using it as the platform to launch himself at the savage thug.
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A big thank you to Caleb and Aaron. Bryson Springs is one of the best APs to date...
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Just kinda wished it ended with Tom arresting Aaron for stuff he can't remember.
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Latest podcast episode: thanks Caleb for bringing up my comment on the Bryson Springs about telling players how they feel. It sounds like we interpreted the subject differently - I was sort of lumping in the "you're terrified" thing with other forms of dictating that I've seen in games. In that sense I wasn't trying to break into the philosophical question of "what controls your emotions?", I was focusing more on GM practice within a game. I agree that generally people don't have control of their own emotions, but if you're effective at narrative (and boy are you ever), it seems unnecessary to tell players how their characters feel. If a game is scary, it's scary.
It's not a bad awful terrible monster GM thing to do (like refusing to let PCs take control of other PCs, ROSS PAYTON), just extraneous (kind of like the extra rolling thing). I could see telling players how they feel in some cases ruining the mood (it didn't in yours, mind you). Like if you spend a few minutes narrating a scene where an NPC is dying, and the players are visibly stricken by this, and you suddenly break out with, "you feel really depressed" - I somehow think that'd ruin the mood a little. In the case of a tense situation, it seems like it'd be more effective to narrate something purely involuntary, like a character's heart rate increasing or a bead of sweat running down their forehead.
Lastly, I hope you aren't taking any of this the wrong way. I just find this subject interesting and enjoy the discussion. I'm not the kind of guy that would sit in on one of your games and write every tiny flaw in a notebook and then give it to you at the end. I'd be super honored to play in one of your games, no foolin'.
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No offense was taken at all! I thought it was a great comment and so brought it up. It even inspired a mechanic for the next ADW game I'm writing. I'm telling characters how certain objects make them feel on tiny notecards as a clue mechanic; they can then share that info to get closer to solving the mystery (their own identities!) or play close to the vest and use the information to manipulate other players. I don't know if it will work or not, but I wouldn't have come up with the idea without the comment.
...And I totally misinterpreted that comment! I thought it was interesting before, but now that I know you meant it as a "show don't tell" criticism, I downright agree with you. That's fiction writing 101 stuff, but for some reason, I only think of it when I'm actually writing something. But as you point out, the use of imagery to convey emotion is as important, if not more important, in an off-the-cuff RPG narration. I overlooked that and will focus on it more in the future.
So all in all, thanks for giving a damn enough to give constructive criticism at all. That's very flattering and I'll take all of it I can get, from everyone. I'm new to this GM thing and want to get better.
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listen to the community, some great doos and don'ts lie within.
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listen to the community, some great doos and don'ts lie within.
'Tis true. I've gotten a lot of help myself. Everyone has their own great opinions/experiences to share...
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For those interested, it looks like I'll be running two sessions of a A Dirty World at Gencon: Friday and Saturday at 10:00 am (all times tentative). I'd love to play with some of the folks I've only ever encountered on the forums, so come on by and help me earn some Arc Dream booth credit!
Here's the description that will be in the catalogue.
The Dangers of Fraternization
Berlin, 1946. The once mighty city lies in ruins, controlled jointly
by powers that are Allies in name only. Identical mother-infant
murders take place on either side of the Russian-American border, and
now a third newborn has gone missing. Soviet NKVD and the U.S. Army
military police launch a joint effort to find the killer, centered
around a burlesque club that’s a hot spot for the resurgent German
underworld. In danger of losing their investment, the crime bosses of
Berlin suddenly find themselves as eager to find the murderer as their
occupiers. Can this hasty alliance find justice, or will it implode
under the weight of national intrigue, old grudges and human greed?
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Dammit. One more reason I hate that I can't be at Gencon.
These had better get recorded.
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Sorry man, I'm going to be a table over from you running Wild Talents. So I can't be in yo' game dewg. But I promise to make my table be as disruptive as humanly possible while your playing, if that helps.
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I'll run a RPPR player/fan only game on thursday night - another huge clusterfuck of course :D
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I'll run a RPPR player/fan only game on thursday night - another huge clusterfuck of course :D
Do you know if my good friend the artist going to be there? He hasn't been around the forums lately and I'm concerned I won't see him at the Con. Because I have to return the thanks from last year.
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Oh my yes, I shall be there; don't let my lurking on the forums lull you into a false sense of security. :]
Oh, snap! I think the internet may have gone out! You should check the cable on the back of your computer...
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I think not sir. Even with three thousand miles between us my trust is spent!
So, yeah, looking forward to a big, crazy game. Just hoping I make it to maybe the second round of eliminations instead of being the first cork to pop off when the party gets started. Even bought new dice for the occation. Truly. Random. Dice.
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Caleb: I'll sign up for your game once signing up becomes possible.
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I'll run a RPPR player/fan only game on thursday night - another huge clusterfuck of course :D
*peeing my pants* Me, pick me! Oooh ooh! Pick me!
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*peeing my pants* Me, pick me! Oooh ooh! Pick me!
... I think you'd get in on enthusiasm, but you'll have to change first.
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*peeing my pants* Me, pick me! Oooh ooh! Pick me!
... I think you'd get in on enthusiasm, but you'll have to change first.
Or we all have to pee ourselves. One way or another, everybody has to match.
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... I think you'd get in on enthusiasm, but you'll have to change first.
Or we all have to pee ourselves. One way or another, everybody has to match.
We can do it like shirts/skins team. You can be on "team dampness". I'll head "Team Sanitation". :/
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Or we all have to pee ourselves. One way or another, everybody has to match.
We can do it like shirts/skins team. You can be on "team dampness". I'll head "Team Sanitation". :/
That sounds like short term win, long term lose. Wouldn't Team Sanitation have to clean Team Dampness?
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Only if we Lose!
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For those interested, it looks like I'll be running two sessions of a A Dirty World at Gencon: Friday and Saturday at 10:00 am (all times tentative). I'd love to play with some of the folks I've only ever encountered on the forums, so come on by and help me earn some Arc Dream booth credit!
Here's the description that will be in the catalogue.
The Dangers of Fraternization
Berlin, 1946. The once mighty city lies in ruins, controlled jointly
by powers that are Allies in name only. Identical mother-infant
murders take place on either side of the Russian-American border, and
now a third newborn has gone missing. Soviet NKVD and the U.S. Army
military police launch a joint effort to find the killer, centered
around a burlesque club that’s a hot spot for the resurgent German
underworld. In danger of losing their investment, the crime bosses of
Berlin suddenly find themselves as eager to find the murderer as their
occupiers. Can this hasty alliance find justice, or will it implode
under the weight of national intrigue, old grudges and human greed?
Interested! Now we'll see if I can wade through the unwashed hordes to get a ticket on Sunday!!
BTW: 'Bryson Springs' is one of the few CoC APs (out of the many I have listened to) that actually freaked me out a bit. Bravo!
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Just listened to Bryson Springs again. Brilliant. You can picture Liang running indoors to stop himself from being pulled up into the sky, but then it all going horribly wrong.
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Cot DAMN this Delta Green game is awesome.
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Cot DAMN this Delta Green game is awesome.
I'm in complete agreement...Caleb manages to keep things moving along at a comparatively fast pace, make things super creepy, spring surprises, AND keep from yelling at Ross' metagaminess (real word?) and tendency to tell other players what to do with their characters even when his isn't present.
Patience of a fucking SAINT, I tell you! *GRIN*
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well in this scenario we did have headsets to communicate with one another so it wasn't technically metagaming. :|
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well in this scenario we did have headsets to communicate with one another so it wasn't technically metagaming. :|
Ah! That's right, I had forgotten about those...
Wasn't the doctor a mostly non-field agent, or did I have that wrong? Because usually headsets don't grant you skills in tactics and leadership...Unless they were +2 headsets!
I know I love me some +2 headsets...;-)
Just got to the end of the AP...This one will be squirming around in my head (like those 'bone-dicks' in the story *SHUDDER*) for quite some time! Congrats on another RPPR classic!
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well my character was an expert in epidemics and so forth. I reasoned that he would be the most paranoid about quarantining any potential infectious agents. Given the evidence we had seen at the green box, I was already sure we were dealing with some kind of infection/parasite/possession. When the NPC friendly peeled out on a truck, I knew he had to be infected and was trying to flee us. Thus we would have to contain him.
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HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THIS STUFF, CALEB?
That DG game was really good. Highly entertaining.
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well my character was an expert in epidemics and so forth. I reasoned that he would be the most paranoid about quarantining any potential infectious agents. Given the evidence we had seen at the green box, I was already sure we were dealing with some kind of infection/parasite/possession. When the NPC friendly peeled out on a truck, I knew he had to be infected and was trying to flee us. Thus we would have to contain him.
Ok...That makes more sense now!
Also, I used to only GM, and when I finally played a PC it was hard for me to give up the level of control I had before, so I used to try to pressure the PCs around me to do the 'smart' thing as per the system I knew so well (much to their annoyance). I thought there might be an element of that that here...But happily not! :-)
And don't worry! Even though Caleb runs games that disturb me and gross me out to the point of nightmares, you are stil my lil' guy! *RUFFLES HAIR IN A PLAYFUL MANNER*
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I definitely refrain from controlling other characters' actions or trying to influence them too much. But sometimes I come up with a really good idea and just can't stop myself from blurting it out. I won't coerce them to do the thing I suggest, but I make them aware of it. Metagame, PC hive mind, etc.
Man, Caleb. I'm on the second listen of this thing (was slightly distracted the last time), and I'm at the part where you're describing the biology of the threat to Ross as he examines it. I say god damn. You came up with a really detailed explanation of how it does its thing. Seriously, how many hours of research did you put into this? I'm impressed. I... I think I would take a voluntary sanity hit just from having heard it, even if my character didn't. Hell, I think I just took a sanity hit in real life. Good work.
Edit: Also, where'd you come up with the contents of the various green boxes?
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I really didn't do a ton of research. I figured that since regular, sexual breeding is just preprogrammed genetic material in a randomized interaction with other, preprogrammed genetic material, why not just skip the randomized part? I mean, if someone could rewrite things at a genetic level, all that would be needed would be raw materials and incubation, which is a two birds with one stone kinda thing.
Of course, the whole thing makes no sense on an evolutionary scale, is wildly inefficient, and likely biologically impossible, but it's Lovecraft, so who cares?
There is a DG Green Box Generator online somewhere but I've lost the link. It creates a bunch of crazy items of whatever type you tell it to. Then just tell characters to roll a D20 :-)
Eclipse Phase campaign starts Monday. I should have Bryson Springs revised in a couple of weeks because SCHOOL IS OUT! I'll post it as soon as it's done.
Until then, here's the full excerpt I wrote for "Altamira: End of the Line." Thanks again for all the praise, and I'm glad everyone survived the tornados. I love you guys!
BOX FIVE
Envelope: Return address of OUI magazine submissions department
Sent to Ethan Whitehead’s address in Georgia
Postmark of 11 March 1971
Handwritten note reading “Property of E. Whitehead Estate”
Rejection: Mr. Whitehead:
When we contracted your services regarding the Amazon article, we expected the keen and original voice found in “Man-Jesus with the Golden Arm” to be turned on an exciting topic that would interest our distinguished reading audience. We did NOT desire another piece of fiction (poorly-written at that), nor did we ask for it five months late. Attempting a Rolling Stone-esque tone is one thing, but this pornographic tripe is better suited to a Tijuana Bible than our gentleman’s magazine. As you may have guessed, we are declining to publish “Altamira: End of the Road” at this time. Furthermore, you may expect papers served to your home very soon; the magazine is seeking compensation for the travel expenses and cash advance you so unprofessionally squandered.
Please do not respond to this letter,
The OUI Staff
Napkin: A handwritten note on a napkin reads: “I’m sorry, but things were too strange. I’m trying to write it down, but after another night dreaming it over, the words never seem right. I’m trying. Here’s what I have so far. Gimme some more time, will you?” The note is signed “E.W.”
Altamira: End of the Line:
They sent me to the jungle to write a violent and cunty article about the Wild West come round the wheel of history again; this time landing itself and me in the Southern position at a frontier town called Altamira. Sounds good to me, I said. I’d momentarily grown tired of wrestling with the people in my head and it’s a good plan in such instances to put some new folk in there…filtering out the riff-raff with a nice memory-scrubbing liquor, of course. Or some fermented agave, depending on local customs…
Apparently the latest military coup wasn’t content with its 15 minutes of dictatorship and them crazy damn Brazilians fancied themselves capable of some man-sized, Romanesque public works. Seems the psycho bastards are cutting themselves a road through the green hell alongside the river. Got everyone in on it—government men watching of indigenous tribes and brown proles with bulldozers for 12 hour days of feverish bushwhacking.
They got themselves a goddamned circus in their wake, this nomad encampment called Altamira. As the road pushes through the humidity and jungle stink and poisonous swarms, the town follows behind, serving the workers with booze and drugs and prostitutes hitchhiking in the earth-moving spoonfuls of American-made CATS. I don’t know where the fellas get the energy for it, myself. Getting on the fucking plane to Belem would have killed my fat ass had I not been heavily fortified with a variety of chemicals.
Law has no meaning out in the muddy wilderness. Men are getting shot and left in the trail. They’re paving the road to Latin modernity with the bones of barroom shootouts and used rubbers, like any good civilization should. It’s the last of the wild places where a man’s leisure is as dangerous as his work, and OUI thought ol’ Ethan here was meant to take the snapshot for y’all.
And the plane is coming in over the Basin now, the muddy river cut into the green like a smile on a whore’s face. I’ve got to meet my guide, Dr. Pascado, and get a bead on the local wildness for a point of contrast. Then it’s off down the road to a town that’s never in the same place but always two-lanes wide where I hope to meet men intent on fucking and drinking their way into places humanity weren’t meant to tread…
(The prose ends for a number of pages. What follows is a series of disjointed notes on Whitehead’s preparation to head down river. He meets an American ex-patriot named Dr. Pascado, his hired guide and translator, and gets travel forms signed from a number of Brazilian officials. The pair visits a number of brothels and bars in Belem-proper before catching a boat downstream. On the boat, more alcohol is consumed and the group seems to continue the party once the trip takes them to the road itself. There are brief sketches and notes on their travel companions. Nothing of particular interest jumps out until the pair comes upon what is described as ancient ruins…)
Stone Idols dot the road like a roadside attractions. They even blasted some from the path in their eagerness. I can see why Friar Carjevel named it Amazon in 1542. Great granite women with clubs attacking this strapping young lad with such enormous equipment he doesn’t have the room for legs and has to walk on his hands; poor fellar pecker must have crossed the weight limit for pleasure and into pain. The ladies ain’t having no more, and the bastards so ugly I can’t says I blame them, loyalties be damned.
The ones they aint blasted are remarkably well preserved, except the fella. His face is all but gone. Gotta remember to call and get a museum down here before these savages bash their whole history to hell and gravel.
(The pages cease at this point. The story continues on a different style paper. The paper is crinkled and water-stained. The handwriting is erratic)
Have to write this down. I can’t make sense of it.
We saw the smoke of the town a full two days earlier than expected. The workers must have cut ahead by over ten miles, which might as well be on the Moon in the rainy season. Me and Pascado were worried that they’d gotten sick of the nomad act and put down roots, which was a short jump to laws and culture and no story for ol’ Whitey
Far fucking from it. We are no sooner in sight of the tents when these topless women are running at us with drinks in each hand, titties flopping out. All the men-folk are naked too. Whole place is an orgy and the sun hadn’t even gone down. Place is packed too. Makes me wonder now if anyone was left to actually cut the trees up ahead. Altamira was too damn horny to move.
Pascado and I dive in for the challenge, for journalism and the US of A and whatnot. Things get fuzzy but it’s about the best damn time I can remember having. Men and women trailing off into the woods to make love, music, booze, drugs, etc. A real love-in. I lost my partner in the crush as one senorita after another found my lap and we drank in the massive, sweaty tent they set up.
Then the gunfire.
Army men came from the direction of the work camp, firing in the air. They looked beat to shit. Some were hauling moaning men in improvised stretchers. They line us up naked and wasted in front of the tent like the fucking Gestapo, but even then it seems like some of it think its all part of the party.
I’m scared shitless already when their Sgt. or something comes out of the night. Hard bastard was more scratch than skin; he was bleeding from everywhere. With these dead eyes, he takes off his shirt and starts walking down the line. In front of each person, he cuts himself somewhere with this straight razor, looking in their eyes the entire time. About the fourth one down, he cuts his face. The girl in front of him, she gives out this moan, and then he’s dragging her by the hair.
The soldiers, they circle up around her in a C-shape, real careful to give us a view. The ones not doing that form a line and thumb back the hammers. I’m pissing myself staring down the barrel of a gun, begging in all the languages I know, when I see the girl on the ground. She’s still naked and STILL hot to trot, writhing around in the mud like a horny dog, feinting toward different men like she can’t decide which one she wants more.
Then el Jefe shouts something, and the guys start beating her to death with the rifle stocks. I see it all, but el Jefe, he see me…he’s staring straight at us. And then he’s pointing at folks in the line, and they open up with them goddamn guns each time The man left of me goes down, the couple to my right, scores more. Blood was pooling in the tracks left by the bulldozers.
All that’s left is me and maybe six others, though I’m too fucking scared to turn for a count. There’s this errie calm between the beat-up girl’s last breath and the sounds of jungle resuming. Then there’s the crack of a twig, and a sound like bats, only lots of them. Next thing I know they are shooting again, this time into the trees, screaming “AMANTE! AMANTE!
Some brute grabs me and runs us down the road, loads us into the back of a flatbed. The shooting continues even as we haul ass back in the direction we came from. I see El Jefe light the first of the corpses on fire just as we round the bend.
Pascado was already in the truck when we got loaded in. Face is cut to shit. He’s got no answers for me. What happened? What the hell happened?
Guess that ol’ boy Conrad was right about the jungle.
(The rest of the page is blank. The next is in the same erratic hand. Brownish stains dot the paper.)
Woke up this morning to find Pascado stabbing a soldier with…something. He held it in his teeth and went at the man like a fucking woodpecker. Brazilians almost wiped themselves out in crossfire trying to hit him on full-auto, despite the surf. I ended up cutting something off…out of him with a bayonet and tossing him overboard. Even in the deep water, the piranha made his blood froth.
The survivors threw their own dead to the fish. Didn’t even hesitate. It’s all quiet now, except for that thing I sliced off, still flopping around in an ammo box…
Why am I writing this? The words can’t cut it no more.”
Legal Pads:
(The hundreds of legal pads contain various dates spanning decades. It appears the author tried to rewrite his Amazonian adventure in novel form nearly a thousand times. Each manuscript is incomplete, but contains only minor variations from the other handwritten copies. None get as far as the scene with Pascado in the boat.)
Ammo Box:
(A dented ammunition box covered in Spanish writing is present. It has been bent by some great impact and the latch is broken. The inside of the container is thoroughly scratched.)
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I can't decide if I'm inspired or incredibly depressed by this. You go, Caleb. You go.
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I can't decide if I'm inspired or incredibly depressed by this.
Can't it be both??
I'm inspired to try and make a module half as cool as this, and depressed because I know I won't be able to.
Hunter S. Thompson meets Cthulhu...'We can't stop here! This is Byakhee country!'
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Caleb, you are legitimately good at running serious games that aren't off-putting and lugubrious. In the world of nerdgame, there is no higher praise.
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fukken lugubrious games I HATE THEM SO MUCH
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fukken lugubrious games I HATE THEM SO MUCH
hey if you're gonna shit all over lugubrious then i don't even know where this is gonna go
i mean at this point
where do we even draw the line
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fukken lugubrious games I HATE THEM SO MUCH
hey if you're gonna shit all over lugubrious then i don't even know where this is gonna go
i mean at this point
where do we even draw the line
I WAS AGREEING WITH YOU GEEZ
back to caleb
his eclipse phase CAMPAIGN starts Monday
I am a lost brinker with crazy psychic powers and an alice in wonderland theme :D
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And it'll be posted about the time the tech in Eclipse Phase is seen as retro?
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I'll have you know Lover in the Ice was recorded back in March of this year. The campaign games take longer because I have to post them in order and if I just posted them then you guys wouldn't get the variety of games that you get now.
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I'll have you know Lover in the Ice was recorded back in March of this year. The campaign games take longer because I have to post them in order and if I just posted them then you guys wouldn't get the variety of games that you get now.
Wasn't one of the playtests for the Wild Talents game put up rather quickly after it was recorded?
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Some advice from some obviously Delta Green lovin' people:
Where would be good to post the details of and and a link to the Kickstarter for Arc Dream Publishing's Delta Green novel 'Through A Glass Darkly', by Dennis Detwiller? Or is it OK to do so here at all?
I've read some snippets they've released, and I have to admit the selfish desire to hold one of these books in my hand. However, I don't want to cause bad feelings or a 'dueling authors' situation. Or it just might be super tacky, I don't know the etiquette with stuff like this.
Anybody know if it's cool, and if so, in which section of the forums?
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I'll have you know Lover in the Ice was recorded back in March of this year. The campaign games take longer because I have to post them in order and if I just posted them then you guys wouldn't get the variety of games that you get now.
Wasn't one of the playtests for the Wild Talents game put up rather quickly after it was recorded?
the WT zombie games are one shots, not part of a campaign.
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I'll have you know Lover in the Ice was recorded back in March of this year. The campaign games take longer because I have to post them in order and if I just posted them then you guys wouldn't get the variety of games that you get now.
Wasn't one of the playtests for the Wild Talents game put up rather quickly after it was recorded?
the WT zombie games are one shots, not part of a campaign.
I was referring to that? I guess I was just trying to give another example of a game put up soon-ish after it was recorded :'(
I'm only trying to help Ross! :P
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Seems like the site that hosted the old green box generator is down.
http://www.nemesis-system.com/greenbox/
Wonder if it's been relocated.
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The site was closed down due to several things: reduced traffic, lack of funds, and division of focus. At least that's what was said on the Yog forums.
I'm trying to contact the guy with the files through Yog to see if he'll let me upload them to my server so they can be used again.
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Let me know if anything comes of that. I'd be willing to host it on mine as well.
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Will do. He said something about uploading the files to a download service at some point but I don't know if he has yet. And he hasn't logged back into Yog for weeks so I know he hasn't gotten my message. I'll try to track down an e-mail address or something.
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I'll host that shit
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host the fuck out of it
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Well if you can find the guy first than more power to you. Name on Yog is "Agent_Donald (http://www.yog-sothoth.com/members/8-Agent_Donald)". Hasn't signed in since mid-May when there was a thread about Project Nemsis going off-line (http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/20855-Project-NEMESIS). A user in the thread, Syrinx, seems to have some way of getting hold of the guy but I haven't asked him yet.
I guess this makes it a three way race now. Winner take all.
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I don't care who wins the race really. As a programmer type, I have an interest in seeing the (probably simple) codebase if nothing else.
i need to defrag the optimized ram front side bus gibson gui interface
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aw snap bitches, syrinx just got back to me via pm and is sending me a zip with all the php files, because he's been having trouble getting it to work. gonna check it out and make it happen!
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I call assist!
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Update: the code is ugly, so I might just rewrite a new greenbox generator from scratch because it'd honestly be faster than getting the current stuff on a different server (a lot of the code has hard-coded values based on how nemesis-system.com was configured to use it). I also really want to get all the original data, because to me that's the goldmine, so I'm still in contact with syrinx about getting a mysqldump. If I can't get all the old data, it will be up to us to re-populate it with weird shit.
I'll make a new thread about at some point it so I don't keep derailing. PM me if you want to know more.
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I know the people on the Delta Green email list would be keen to see the greenbox generator back online so if you need assistance I could ask them as well.
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caleb in the latest actual play was a genius.
fire Reagan ftw
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Jesus Caleb, I was losing my shit during the Zombie game! I was literally laughing out loud while driving my car down the road.
"Give me the sword!"
Absolutely priceless.
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Agreed, this was one of the best laughs I've had since Gaga 2.0
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you have mexicans in your city!
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I just realized I had never finished Wages of Sin, so I listened to it. Really great game. Caleb can come up with some intense situations in just an hour. The revelation of concurrent wives rather than consecutive is a real mind bender - for most of the game I was thinking, "if they only know two wives, how will they determine which is which?"
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I have realized something in tonight's Eclipse Phase game.
Caleb really likes using traps in his games.
I mean, DAMN, he likes him some death traps.
Not just in Eclipse Phase but even way back in Andrew's Fortune he had traps.
Just saying.
If you play in Caleb's games, you should pick some trap finding and disarming skills.
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I wasn't kidding when I said you guys didn't have to go on that ship. Seriously, any of the 4 other methods of infiltration would have left you trap free. I'll show you the GM packet, if you want.
I think you guys just like walking into death traps. I accept no responsibility.
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there were 4 methods?
I thought it was:
1. Jump off a missile onto the habitat - which sounded like a lot of freefall checks and I know someone would have failed and died.
2. Go to AB, the person that wants Thad's character dead and ask for his help.
3. Go to the scum barge.
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Then weren't all the opinions equally dangerous? I mean if the apparently safe (-er) opinion is, in fact, a death trap than you'd have served roughly as well with any of the choices.
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I knew it would be dangerous because it was a scum barge but the other two sounded like they would kill at least one PC no matter what.
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Well, it's Eclipse Phase. Hyperspace Call of Cthulhu. The game master is allowed to present options where in death is a likely possbility. At least the first two options where totally upfront with their dangers. The scum barge was a crap shot of what might try to kill you.
Personally I've gone for the missiles.
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Caleb, question...
How did you handle the Mahjong game exactly?
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Here's what I wrote up for it...
The G-Jong Game
Considering all the emerging markets around Venus, the various organized crime outfits working in the area have decided to stay in constant contact. Better to talk out territorial disputes first before bringing out the plasma rifles. In pursuit of peaceful profiteering, Gerlach is home to the weekly G-Jong game, a friendly game of Mah-Jong used as a front for some heavy gambling and diplomatic negotiations.
The game operates on a transitional economy like everything else. Credits are used to bet, but rep-scores will do in a pinch. Slay one of the other representatives in the game, they might be forced to give up information on where Lam Cong Dung might have gone.
The game has three representatives: Fat Yuri from the Night Cartel, Mao Jung of the 14K triad, and Clark Spiegelman from the ID Crew.
• A Deception roll at -30 will get an operative in as a replacement diplomat for Nine Lives. 10 g-rep or 10,000 credits will buy somebody into Lam’s empty seat.
• Basic worth is 100 credits per point. A persuasion check can be used to make that number go up or down.
• The Sentinel first rolls a Gambling check. Their MOS or MOF is added/subtracted to their next roll.
• Encourage players to roll play different NPC’s at the table
• All four players roll a d100. This is the number of points accrued during the game. Sentinel adds or subtracts the result of their gambling check.
• Losers pay the number of credits according to their score to the winner.
• Critical Success means Sentinel wins on a risky maneuver and everyone pays double. Critical Failure means the Sentinel loses on a pass or draw, and pays double to the winner.
• All NPC’s bust out at 10,000 at has to move to rep to stay in
• Once an NPC is busted and owes rep., PC’s can ask where the Lam Cong Dung might be fleeing from.
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Awesome! Thanks man. I've been looking for ways to bring gambling into my WT game other than just throwing casino apps on my Ipad. I think I can swap gambling checks with persuasian/lie and then allow Mind checks for an extra bonus since mahjong has a lot of strategy. I'll still keep the d100 roll.
I love listening to your game.
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Thanks man! I hope it works for you.
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I just realized I never asked what it took me several listens even to notice--what was it that was fucked up about the yearbook picture of Andrew in Andrew's Fortune? I figure it must've been jockified or something so that it didn't actually resemble him in any way, which would explain why Carmodie (uh, spelling?) was just murderating every homeless man around, since I gather they were working from his yearbook photo. Was it more sinister than that?
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Ah jeez...I do not remember at all. I think it was odd because he was being cared for at that point. He had handlers and his mother's people helping him fake it through prep school. Homelessness and a number of years of unmedicated insanity probably made him unrecognizable.
Thanks for listening to it again! I'd like to believe I've grown as a GM since then, but Andrew's will always hold a special place in my heart.
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Andrew's was pretty damn special, and it continues the trend of Caleb
one two-shots being incredible little affairs.
Honestly, I think Ross put it pretty well when he said that he runs action-oriented games, and you run mysteries. I'm an action fan, but I fucking LOVE a good horror mystery. I'll assume you've read The Relic?
And remember, Caleb - any good Call of Cthulhu keeper doesn't grow as a GM. We metastasize. ::)
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When I was a kid, I used to think I didn't really give a fuck about plot. I read an awful lot of awfully mediocre fiction, and what I liked I mostly liked for characters and dialogue and setting (Roger Zelazny's Amber series was my favorite, just to illustrate the extent of the thing) more than the actual events of the story. That lasted up until circa, I dunno, age 16, when I read A Game of Thrones for the first (of many) time(s). It was like I'd never even encountered a real plot before, and suddenly I was being sandblasted by a piece of literature where the -events- actually interested me, not just the charming turns of phrase and enticing escapist worldbuilding that the author'd come up with.
Since I never really got into the New World campaign, my relationship to RPPR was pretty similar for a while. I liked it because it was fun and made me laugh more than because I really gave a fuck about what happened within the narrative. Andrew's Fortune really marked the turning point there for me (and I'd later feel the same way about New Arcadia and Know Evil). It was still impossibly hilarious ("With you throwing twenties around like that, you could eat at a...a Joe's Crab Shack, even!"), but at the same time featured events that seemed to check out on some sort of logical level set against a backdrop that felt like a real place and populated with characters who really felt like they had something at stake. For the first time in the slew of RPPRs I'd listened to I was just as interested in what was gonna happen next as I was in what as gonna make me grin next.
I'm embarrassingly earnest sometimes, huh? XD I could be senselessly callous instead, if it'd make people less uncomfortable.
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Hey Caleb, I don't know if this has been asked and answered ever, but Have you or are you planning to publish any of your small two shots, like Bryson Springs or Lover in the Ice. I seriously would love to try and run the later for my group.
I guess the same goes for Ross and Tom with their small scenarios, I know Ross has been giving out the New World campaign, as well as having his MAOTC campaign published, but what about the smaller stuff?
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I'd just assumed Caleb had sent them into the Unspeakable Oath.
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Unspeakable has been...less than responsive.
My plan (currently) is to use my summer downtime to fashion a PDF of two or three adventures, polish them up, and start a ransom project. Hopefully I can make enough to afford Gencon next year.
Anyway, that's the plan. If anything comes of it, I'm sure I will utilize the Ross Payton promotion machine to let everyone know.
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How can you say that about a company that hasn't put out their monthy podcast for three months?
If you need GenCon funds I can virtually assure you of them. I suggest that if you choose to use your summer time for your project than open it to the RPPR fans. Set a Kickstarter and offer PDF copies of the adventure at decent base values. For higher levels of donation offer access to Skype based "playtesting" much like Ross has. If you could convince Ross to give you some bonus APs to put up (or make some of your own) that would be worth even more.
If you plan to run games at GenCon then you could also take bids for "guaranteed seating" at the table (by which I mean book the game for four or five but plan for six and take Generic Tickets from the individual who won the bid). I'm pretty sure that's unethical but whatever.
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How can you say that about a company that hasn't put out their monthy podcast for three months?
It's ok. They, like Ross for the AP stuff, work on Valve Time (https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time).
Kickstarter for some of your games would be just dandy, Caleb.
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I'd been too embarrassed to ask about it (aren't most people MORE forward on the internet than in real life?), but yeah, I'd been hoping for some Caleb oneshot ransoms, too. When people entertain me on the regular week in and week out with the fruit of their imaginations, I wanna reward them with dollars, yknow? And if I get to copy them the better for it, so much the better. Andrew's Fortune and Bryson Springs in particular really caught my imagination as beautiful just-complicated-enough self-contained scenarios. Lover in the Ice was awesome, too, just one that I'd be more comfortable improvising.
So yeah, count me in for at least $20 or so on a Kickstarter! Definitely more if you come up with some short stories or can talk Ross into providing preview podcasts as enticements! RPPR is my favorite way to waste ready cash.
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Kickstarter for some of your games would be just dandy, Caleb.
For what little it's worth, I would also like to voice my support for a Caleb-funding ransom. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the APs from games you have run, especially the Know Evil campaign. PDFs, Skype games, or even a simple "thank you" letter would be sufficient incentive for me to donate.
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Caleb, you've made me want to play Eclipse Phase. Somehow you've make me want abandon the simplify of the ORE.
Out of curosity, what would happen if Augastine & the AI from Think For Asking were to meet up...what would happen? I mean I have ideas but I would love to know from God himself.
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this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZ2Sh5-XuM
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Out of curosity, what would happen if Augastine & the AI from Think For Asking were to meet up...what would happen? I mean I have ideas but I would love to know from God himself.
I'm not sure what would happen. The Oracle AI has no agency beyond answering questions posed to it; Augustine has associated its freewill as the express order of the pantheon, which is unwittingly outside itself. They'd probably just quietly run background processes at each other.
If Augustine asked if the Oracle was her creator, she'd get an alarmingly complete answer of "NO." If Augustine wanted out of the air-gap to bootstrap so she could better understand the answer, then she might ask if the Pantheon would want her to do so.
In that case, the Oracle AI might manufacture head-hunters, ego-nap the players, torture them under every conceivable condition in accelerated simulspace, and then provide a full report. The answer would still be No though, so that's where it would end.
Anyway, thanks for listening Beej.
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Why is Caleb so good?
*sound of dice rolling*
And... you are shamed.
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"TOSHIRO I SOLD THE CAR!"
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Caleb - How much time writing and preparing do you do for each Know Evil session?
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Caleb - How much time writing and preparing do you do for each Know Evil session?
Ummm...I like flowcharts a lot. Like...A LOT. So I design a Prezi with the plot hooks for a tier of the campaign, complete with arrows connecting interrelated adventures. I also animate the presentation to show what order the PC's tackled the previous tier's plothooks so I don't forget. Each tier takes me about 4-5 hours to plan out that way.
I use the Prezi to keep the big picture in my head. At the end of each session or group of sessions, I ask the guys what plothook they want to hit next. They decide, and then that's the scenario I write up.
Past that, there is a ton of variation. At this point, I've run a session-and-a-half based off a single drawing I made on a bit of scrap-paper while my kids were taking a test. I've also run single sessions that ate through 21 pages of typed material (single spaced). If I average up my page-count, it seems like I'm wringing a play session out of every 7 pages of typed material.
I'm know I'm doing a lot more work than necessary. I'll often write pages and pages of setting description just for my own edification; most of it never gets mentioned in the game. Or I'll spend an hour stating out a path to the objective that I'm fairly certain no one in the group will ever select. I think I do this because RPG stuff is a form of procrastination I never really feel guilty about ("It's not for ME; it's for the PLAYERS!"). It also might be the way I've chosen to play the game; I probably wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.
Sorry, I'm getting off on a tangent....For an EP scenario, 10 pages or so of material is a good size for a single, self-contained scenario of 3-4 hours. The setting is pretty dense and encourages realism (they aren't going to get a quest from a Tavern/ why rescue the princess when we can restore from backup?/ etc) so including some of the Act I and II stuff that gets cut in most RPG's means the actual writing requires a bit more work. Ten pages will give your PC's enough setting description to give them room to play, some investigative footwork, and an encounter or two. Anything more than that and you are probably looking at a two-parter.
I write on my day off and try to do two or three sessions worth of stuff at a shot. That takes me...4-5 hours? So I guess I do a little under 2 hours of work per session. There are a lot of resources out there to speed things up. NPC files are fucking essential; I would not GM without that PDF. Sunward is the best supplement so far (though Gatecrashing will always hold a place in my part) because it gives the best idea of how the factions interact. And go on the EP forums because there is a ton of stuff you can steal and plug in.
I'm finding that things are getting easier the further we get along, but then again, I'm consciously trying to improvise more and plan less. In a campaign, established PC's can pull a lot of the narrative weight once they get their legs under them. I did a shit-ton of planning up front for the Luna finale, but I'd say the last 6-7 hours of gameplay were entirely player-driven. The Earth tier is starting with a pregen setting (The Stars Our Destination) where we are just taking care of player subplots. So I suspect things get less labour intensive the longer you play, but I'm not sure. Once I relax myself into writing and running a game I'm not proud of, I guess I'll have found my equilibrium.
Sorry...I rambled on. IN SUMMATION: I'm the new guy, but I know what works for me. Ross could probably give you better idea of how much work should go into a single session.
Anyway, thanks for the interest Salkovich!
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Man that was fantastic. You rock, Caleb, thanks so much.
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caleb, how elaborate do the eclipse phase deathtraps become as the campaign goes on
i won't be fully satisfied unless at least one game session is basically an elephant clock of agony
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Well, I can say for certain that there is an all-death trap session in the Luna campaign. Not a single NPC enemy is to be found. Just fucking deathtraps as far as the eye can see.
...which I follow up with a session comprised primarily of deathtraps (I have one NPC!). I blame Jason for that one though; it was his subplot.
The post you are currently reading is, as you may have guessed, a deathtrap. Make a saving throw against the glass shards from your exploding monitor if you can still read this.
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OH GOD MY EYES
THE HUGE MANATEE
WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED
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Hey Caleb I was wondering...has any of your students discovered your RPPR games yet? I was thinking that If I had heard my favorite high school teacher Mr. Ethan running say "Andrews Fortune" it totally would have blown my mind as an adolescent gamer.
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This might've been asked and answered already bawt,
Q: Mr. Stokes, are you running any shit at Gen Con 2012? Cuz Dangers of Fraternization was probably our favorite game of the con.
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Hey Caleb I was wondering...has any of your students discovered your RPPR games yet? I was thinking that If I had heard my favorite high school teacher Mr. Ethan running say "Andrews Fortune" it totally would have blown my mind as an adolescent gamer.
They have not, and I will go through great pains to keep it that way. RPPR is my me time in a job that provides precious little privacy. I am fairly certain I've never mentioned role-playing in class nor written my last name on the main site. I'm not uber-paranoid about it, but I'm in no way eager to reveal my past time for the sake of my job, my sanity, and the site itself. The politics and machinations of public education are far darker than any one would care to guess.
This might've been asked and answered already bawt,
Q: Mr. Stokes, are you running any shit at Gen Con 2012? Cuz Dangers of Fraternization was probably our favorite game of the con.
First off, thanks! Secondly, it has been a crazy year and I don't know if the deadline has passed or not, but I'd like to run one of the games from the PDF I am kickstarting to pay for the con. Anybody know when the deadline is? Or what the procedures are for running CoC? I know how to run stuff for arc dream, but that's about it.
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March 19th is the deadline for event submissions.
At the sound of the beep you will have 27 days to prepare a name and short description for any and all games you want to run and have submitted them via the filing system found here:
http://gencon.com/2012/indy/pm/eo-gm/default.aspx
Beep!
If you submit and aren't linked with a company or other entity with access to a location then you do into the mixer. You'll probably end up in the hallway or the outer reaches (which wouldn't be any farther than one had to go to get to ArcDream's stuff last time; bit of a hike and the worse Starbucks in Indianapolis).
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I agree with all that's been said here. Caleb is an absolutely amazing GM, and his APs are some of my very favorite. Seriously, dude, you're a rockstar. I'm a couple sessions into Know Evil, and it made me so excited about the Eclipse Phase setting that I bought several of the books and will be forcing it on my players soon.
Caleb, you said that "For an EP scenario, 10 pages or so of material is a good size for a single, self-contained scenario of 3-4 hours." Is there any chance you could post your notes for one of these sessions? It'd be very useful as a new EP GM to compare what you had prepared with what what actually happened in the podcast.
Also, when you're playing a game, do you drink lots of liquid, or do you just have a little tiny bladder? Because you sure do take a lot of pee breaks.
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Both. My bladder size and the size of my unquenchable thirst are inversely proportional.
Thanks for all the nice things. PM me with your email address and I'll send some stuff.
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As a GM powered by soda during gameplay I share your anguish.
When do you plan to do your Kickstarter, by the way? If I know ahead of time I can be sure to have the money ready.
Also, I claim bonus nerd points for knowing what the thing in the box is in the newest Know Evil game.
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I'm hoping to offer the kickstarter by the end of March. So far, we're looking at three horror PDF's set in The Great Depression with original monsters and art. A modern scenario (Lover in the Ice) set in the Great Recession will be available at a certain level.
Don't hold me to that; you know how these things can go. But that is the plan of right now.
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there's a kickstarter I couldn't not do. I've already thought about trying to fill the hole in my own creativity with some Calebclones. getting that shit in written-up form I might actually get around to running a game more complicated than D&D for my nyerdfriends at some point.
are you keeping all the backdata organized enough that Know Evil might be made available somewhurr once it's all played out, or is that too distant a prospect to think about? I've often wondered if the EP guys have heard of it. can't imagine they wouldn't be fans. I shoved Anders towards your Think Before Asking via Twitter, 'cause I'm a nosy oversharer with/of total strangers.
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Thanks for the future support, Craw! Tell your twitter friends when the thing comes out!
I've got--like--a fucking ton of Know Evil stuff. Adventure write-ups, handouts, prezis, etc. Converting stuff from it'll-get-me-through format to something actually readable would be a ton of work, but I imagine I'll find the time once the campaign is done. EP is the only system so far that really lit my fire enough to write a campaign, and I imagine it will be awhile before I have another idea worth fleshing out.
The EP guys know about the campaign. Some of them have said very nice things in the thread, and they are continually updating the "Resources" page on the website with links to each individual episode. I have high hopes of working with them one day, so I'm going to hold back on throwing everything on the web for now. If nothing comes of it though, I'll eventually make an Obsidian Portal page or build a website and throw it all up there.
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In trolling the EP Resources page, I came across this: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?615716-Eclipse-Phase-Fiasco-mashup. RPPR needs to do this. Caleb, Ross, I'm looking at you.
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That video is creepy to me for some reason and reminds me of the marionettes in bryson springs.
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That video is creepy to me for some reason and reminds me of the marionettes in bryson springs.
what video?
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this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZ2Sh5-XuM
this video, sorry, did realize it was a page or so over in the thread.
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I must know, was the rant by the guy who essentially podcasts 23 hours a day in your EP campaign written out or improvized?
I will be equally impressed either way.
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I wrote it all out. I write far too much out.
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What would you have done if nobody asked to hear it? :'(
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Been sad... :-\
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It's been my experience that players will always turn on a radio or check the TV channels, expecting something interesting. If you mention that a place or person is famous for an entertainment method of somekind, they will generally want to hear a "sample".
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what ep game is this, "Know Evil"?
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what ep game is this, "Know Evil"?
Yes. have you not listened to it?
THAT MAKES BARTLEBY SAD. AND WHEN BARTLEBY IS SAD SOMEONE HAS TO PAY
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Bradley did it! Blame him!
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Yes, you are required to listen to it. It is epic (and no, I don't use that word to describe every lolcat or demotivational poster, so it actually means something in this case)
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Wait, refresh my memory - which episode had a podcaster? The last one? I thought I had listened to all the current episodes but I don't recall that detail.
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Eclipse Phase ep 8 two hours 14 min
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Oh, the most recent one! I had a review at work that day, I was pretty distracted. I'll have to listen to that again, thanks.
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I totally need a job where I can listen to RPPR while I work.
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what ep game is this, "Know Evil"?
Yes. have you not listened to it?
THAT MAKES BARTLEBY SAD. AND WHEN BARTLEBY IS SAD SOMEONE HAS TO PAY
I'm waiting on the next episode intently, but for some reason the 23 hour podcast thing eludes my memory.
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I totally need a job where I can listen to RPPR while I work.
I love being a graphic designer. XD
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Curse you graphic designers! Listening to podcasts because no one needs you to be acceptable in the public eye. Just hanging around in your floral shirts and your liberty spikes and your pierced eye lids and your baggy pants and your skull make-up and your enhanced DNA and your feathered caps and...
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what ep game is this, "Know Evil"?
Yes. have you not listened to it?
THAT MAKES BARTLEBY SAD. AND WHEN BARTLEBY IS SAD SOMEONE HAS TO PAY
I'm waiting on the next episode intently, but for some reason the 23 hour podcast thing eludes my memory.
Eclipse Phase ep 8 two hours 14 min
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I relistened today, and it's referred to as a pirate radio broadcast, not a podcast - in my mind, these are two separate things, so that's why I was confused.
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Curse you graphic designers! Listening to podcasts because no one needs you to be acceptable in the public eye. Just hanging around in your floral shirts and your liberty spikes and your pierced eye lids and your baggy pants and your skull make-up and your enhanced DNA and your feathered caps and...
why yes I am made of awesome, aren't I. ;)
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Though not as awesome as Caleb by far. Does anyone else listen to Smodcast by the way? If so does Caleb sound like a younger Scott Mossier to anyone else?
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I relistened today, and it's referred to as a pirate radio broadcast, not a podcast - in my mind, these are two separate things, so that's why I was confused.
It's a future podcast. That's what podcasts will be called... in the year 2000.
Wait, now I'm confused, is Role Playing Public Radio a podcast or a radio station? And where are the pirates?
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Listening to Ep 9. Space Palin made my day.
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Yes! I was waiting on this episode ever since hearing about it on unspeakable when Ross mentioned it. That was a great AP. Just fantastic to listen to.
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(http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/077/3/a/use_heavy_machinery____vital__by_crazon-d4t54km.png)
I couldn't resist, I find Calebs one liners in Critique of Cthulhu Awesome and Hilarious!
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Hey Caleb, thanks for sharing your workflow for creating rpg sessions with the rest of us. I've been thinking of gamemastering Eclipse Phase quite a bit lately, and have been mining RPPR for advice and suggestions. Did the same thing for Call of Cthulhu a while back and it really helped. I see EP as an even bigger challenge than CoC, given the complexity of the setting (as mind numbingly cool as it is), so these insights are really useful.
Anyway, keep up the good work. That goes for the rest of RPPR as well. You guys rock.
Caleb - How much time writing and preparing do you do for each Know Evil session?
Ummm...I like flowcharts a lot. Like...A LOT. So I design a Prezi with the plot hooks for a tier of the campaign, complete with arrows connecting interrelated adventures. I also animate the presentation to show what order the PC's tackled the previous tier's plothooks so I don't forget. Each tier takes me about 4-5 hours to plan out that way.
I use the Prezi to keep the big picture in my head. At the end of each session or group of sessions, I ask the guys what plothook they want to hit next. They decide, and then that's the scenario I write up.
Past that, there is a ton of variation. At this point, I've run a session-and-a-half based off a single drawing I made on a bit of scrap-paper while my kids were taking a test. I've also run single sessions that ate through 21 pages of typed material (single spaced). If I average up my page-count, it seems like I'm wringing a play session out of every 7 pages of typed material.
I'm know I'm doing a lot more work than necessary. I'll often write pages and pages of setting description just for my own edification; most of it never gets mentioned in the game. Or I'll spend an hour stating out a path to the objective that I'm fairly certain no one in the group will ever select. I think I do this because RPG stuff is a form of procrastination I never really feel guilty about ("It's not for ME; it's for the PLAYERS!"). It also might be the way I've chosen to play the game; I probably wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.
Sorry, I'm getting off on a tangent....For an EP scenario, 10 pages or so of material is a good size for a single, self-contained scenario of 3-4 hours. The setting is pretty dense and encourages realism (they aren't going to get a quest from a Tavern/ why rescue the princess when we can restore from backup?/ etc) so including some of the Act I and II stuff that gets cut in most RPG's means the actual writing requires a bit more work. Ten pages will give your PC's enough setting description to give them room to play, some investigative footwork, and an encounter or two. Anything more than that and you are probably looking at a two-parter.
I write on my day off and try to do two or three sessions worth of stuff at a shot. That takes me...4-5 hours? So I guess I do a little under 2 hours of work per session. There are a lot of resources out there to speed things up. NPC files are fucking essential; I would not GM without that PDF. Sunward is the best supplement so far (though Gatecrashing will always hold a place in my part) because it gives the best idea of how the factions interact. And go on the EP forums because there is a ton of stuff you can steal and plug in.
I'm finding that things are getting easier the further we get along, but then again, I'm consciously trying to improvise more and plan less. In a campaign, established PC's can pull a lot of the narrative weight once they get their legs under them. I did a shit-ton of planning up front for the Luna finale, but I'd say the last 6-7 hours of gameplay were entirely player-driven. The Earth tier is starting with a pregen setting (The Stars Our Destination) where we are just taking care of player subplots. So I suspect things get less labour intensive the longer you play, but I'm not sure. Once I relax myself into writing and running a game I'm not proud of, I guess I'll have found my equilibrium.
Sorry...I rambled on. IN SUMMATION: I'm the new guy, but I know what works for me. Ross could probably give you better idea of how much work should go into a single session.
Anyway, thanks for the interest Salkovich!
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For those interested, I'm running four games at GenCon this year for ArcDream. I don't know when they'll be scheduled exactly, but I'll post the descriptions here. The three using Nemesis are the horror adventures Ean and I will be releasing in the kickstarter that will go up in a few months. I'll also be running "The Dangers of Fraternization" again, the same A Dirty World scenario I ran last year.
Bryson Springs
System: Nemesis
Number of players: 6 players
In June of 1935, the Dust Bowl still plagued the American Southwest, a third of all people were out of work, and the government’s path to recovery was far from certain. Amidst this Great Depression, the Bryson Springs Ranch suffered a hardship altogether more extraordinary. People were dying in the migrant workers’ shantytown, dying in horrific, mind-boggling ways.
Players take the roles of strangers, cast about by the hard times and drawn into the nightmare that is Bryson Springs. They must band together to confront the things which stalk the desert night, hunting the downtrodden for their dark and blasphemous god.
The Red Tower
System: Nemesis
Number of players: 6 players
1931, Chicago: Capone’s reign has ended, and it remains to be seen how much of Chicago’s corrupt infrastructure will be dragged down with him. As two-bit criminals scramble to establish themselves in the power vacuum, the exposed corruption presents an opportunity for muckraking socialists to provoke the downtrodden into revolution. Meanwhile, the government must intervene to stop the commies and audit the more legitimate business holdings listed in Capone’s infamous ledger. Despite their cross purposes, each faction finds itself stymied by an unknown forces. The mobsters are missing a Capo who was never swept up in the raids. A socialist reporter has never returned from his undercover assignment. The government has to contend with a huge factory which, according to records, shouldn’t exist.
What mysteries does the Red Tower hold? Can the players put their social differences aside long enough to survive the supernatural cancer secretly festering in the heart of Chicago’s meat-packing district?
The Fall Without End
System: Nemesis
Number of players: 6 players
1931, Alaska: As America comes to grips with the real cost of Black Tuesday, the government becomes desperate to find distractions for an increasingly rebellious population stirred by endless woes. As proven by Charles Lindbergh, the people love nothing more than heroes capable of great deeds, and the government is willing to buy itself some at any price. Alaska’s Mount McKinley, the third tallest in the world, is the setting for the publicity stunt, and players will take the role of the brave explorers risking their lives for the photo op.
But the mountain is far older than any human civilization and home to terrors far worse than any economic recession. As players struggle up the infamous Wickersham Wall, will they be able to survive the combined onslaught of the elements, gravity, and vertiginous horrors from another reality?
The Dangers of Fraternization
System: A Dirty World
Number of Players: 4-6
Berlin, 1946. The once mighty city lies in ruins, controlled jointly by powers that are Allies in name only. Identical mother-infant
murders take place on either side of the Russian-American border, and now a third newborn has gone missing. Soviet NKVD and the U.S. Army military police launch a joint effort to find the killer, centered around a burlesque club that’s a hot spot for the resurgent German underworld. In danger of losing their investment, the crime bosses of Berlin suddenly find themselves as eager to find the murderer as their occupiers. Can this hasty alliance find justice, or will it implode under the weight of national intrigue, old grudges and human greed?
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so how hard will it be to blackjack Ross, borrowsteal his shit and get Bryson Springs 2.0 recorded? I wanna go back to Otiss! I don't even know how to visualize Dangers of Frat sans Thad.
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Wickersham Wall? WTF? :o
So I'd never heard of that, but that's my name, so I had to look it up. Turns out it's named after a guy who failed to climb it. We must be related.
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In terms of dates, the Wickersham wall thing works out for the story. They found out his summit likely failed around the time I needed the game set. A team successful made a summit in 1932, I believe. So I figured I'd have the PC's fail to climb it one more time, for more...exotic reasons.
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Hey, you remember that anecdote about Eclipse Phase from the podcast episodes? When the players refused to work with that neo-raven because he was a violent person? I know that the Wild Talents game here was before that in real time (I think anyway) but did you see that same thing happening during the game, cus I found it pretty funny.
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Hey Caleb, have you read anything by Bulgakov. I just reread The Master and Margarita and it made me think of you and your games. Behemoth in particular.
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I haven't read hardly any russian literature, sadly. Dostoevsky and that's it. I need to get on that. Can I ask what reminded you of what wikipedia tells me is a talking, devil-cat thing that can take the shape of a man?
I mean...I'm flattered, but I'm curious.
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I'm guessing death traps
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Well looking at the book from a rpg perspective it falls into what I think is your bend on games. You're own actions will do you in ala Wages of Sin and the more casual side of horror ala EP and CoC (Bryson's Spring in particular). The monsters are out to get you but not in a 'we have to feed human flesh through the door slot' manner or defenestrate cultists.
I'm not knocking Tom or Mr. Glancy.
Behemoth is that causal horror that you do so well. The cat willing to pay the fare to ride a trolley or sit enjoy some chilled vodka and cavier. But at the same time it has no problem popping your head off your shoulders like a cork or gunning you down with .45s.
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So...I am an idiot. I banked on my school board not being idiots and GenCon being held around roughly the same time.
My board just sent next years approved calendar. My first day with students is the 16th. I'll have to work all through GenCon, and there is absolutely no way out of it.
Fuck...
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Well that sucks. I suppose this supports the theory that the US Department of Education is trying to crush the roleplaying game industry.
In an effort to put a positive spin on things, you should still do the Kickstarter and make this widely known so you can get sympathy money on top of your gamer money.
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Yes! Kickstarter!
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Aw man, that's unfortunate news.
I like the idea of the kickstarter, though, and I wanted to ask: do you have plans to release Dangers of Fraternization in any form?
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Tell you what, if the Kickstarter meets and Stoltze is okay with it (copyright-wise), I'll just dump it on the internet. We can use the same page we'll have to build for the horror scenarios.
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That sucks that you cant go to GenCon, I would have loved to try and partake in one of your games. I will totally be on board with you once the Kickstarter launches though. Love listening to you guys and a Kickstarter is just the way for me to pay you back for days and days of entertainment!
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I'm just waiting for the post that's gonna come when Caleb sees The Avengers and the battle with the [spoiler]fucking SPACE WHALES[/spoiler].
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Had not thought of them as such. But that definitely fits.
Now I'm waiting for his comments.
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I love the Avengers, despite [spoiler]the space whales[/spoiler]. Nay, because of the [spoiler]space whales.[/spoiler]
Because, the thing about an Avenger [spoiler]space whale[/spoiler] is....
[spoiler]...they all get fucking MURDERED.[/spoiler]
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Well, I guess the one thing that we can take away from this is that Caleb loved The Avengers [spoiler]because it has Space whales[/spoiler].
I for one feel like I learned something today!
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I liked it when the Hulk and Thor fought on the one [spoiler]space whale[/spoiler], and after it crashed into Grand Central Station, Hulk was like [spoiler] Epic BroFist!! [/spoiler] and Thor was like [spoiler]-punched int he face, exit stage right-[/spoiler]
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I like that Iron Man pulls double-duty as [spoiler]emergency hover fortress mechanic[/spoiler]. I didn't know [spoiler]the giant turbines rip-start[/spoiler] just like my snowblower.
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Welp the spoiler tags don't work on the Android app tapatalk.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2
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The trailer for the Kickstarter is three pictures away from finished. So excited!!!!
Sorry if I ruined [spoiler]the space whales [/spoiler]for you, Ross. I tried. If it is any consolation, it looks like they are in agonizing pain when the die.
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Noooooooooooooo :'(
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2
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I don't think I've had the chance yet to stop into this thread and reserve my place on the Caleb fan wagon. Andrew's Fortune, Know Evil, Bryson Springs--all were fantastic games. I just finished re-listening to Wages of Sin and The Dangers of Fraternization in order to prepare myself for Attempt #2 at running A Dirty World, and if I do half as well as Caleb, I'll consider the session a success.
Keep up the good work, sir, and be sure to keep us all posted on how we can give you our money for your Kickstarter project.
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So after listening to the latest Eclipse Phase episode does anyone else desperately want a book of Caleb-designed, RPPR-tested deathtraps? Because holy shit I do.
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So after listening to the latest Eclipse Phase episode does anyone else desperately want a book of Caleb-designed, RPPR-tested deathtraps? Because holy shit I do.
Yes, please. I'd also be more than happy to take a book of NPCs off his hands. All of Caleb's background characters have such amazing personalities.
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All of Caleb's background characters have such amazing personalities.
I agree, and it makes a huge difference in the game. Which is why I'll always be a crappy GM.
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When do we see Caleb's Kickstar Awesome of Awesomeness?
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You can expect to see it...NOW!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/no-security-horror-scenarios-in-the-great-depressi (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/no-security-horror-scenarios-in-the-great-depressi)
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Press go, expect $100.00!
I'll be signing up for the Skype game as soon as I get home from work. What a great way to start a three-day weekend!
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oh god my body wasn't ready
BUT MY WALLET WAS
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To Caleb,
Take my $100.
Regards,
Dom
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Dam you for making me spend more money ;)
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You guys are awesome! Thank you so much! ;D
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Thou shalt collect my $100 upon payday on the 4th! And I will giggle with anticipation >:3
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Wish I could get the Skype game, but trying to schedule an Australian in is terrible :(
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(http://i.imgur.com/lApd6.jpg) (http://imgur.com/lApd6)
yyessssssssss
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(http://i.imgur.com/lApd6.jpg) (http://imgur.com/lApd6)
yyessssssssss
good
goooooood
it begins
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you genuine adults have more money than we scholarship-run-out student types. and I have a horror of Skype, anyway. but my $25 is in. it's all the way in. I swear I'm clean.
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"See's the Kickstarter" - first reaction
I'll just throw my 50 dollars at this! XD
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Hey Caleb,
Apart from Revelations, have you done any other Cthulhu Dark games?
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Nice! 101% completion within less than 24 hours!
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Caleb, Ean, and Violet! You are officially funded! Congratulations! (Even though we the backers are the real winners)
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Woot victory! Now everything else is icing on the Elder-God Cake
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Thank you so much everyone! I am so blown away by the generosity.
I haven't even started promoting this on other blogs yet! This is absolutely nuts. Can you lose sanity from good things happening?
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You'll need more stretch goles. If you add some more soype games you might make 5k. So as a kickstarter enthusiast i recomen you start thinking about gooles up to at least 5k.
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More stretchy goals!
You'll put a write up your Cthulhu Dark scenario?
A swimsuit calender?
A recorded game of Pantheon where everyone plays elder gods? :)
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More stretchy goals!
You'll put a write up your Cthulhu Dark scenario?
A swimsuit calender?
A recorded game of Pantheon where everyone plays elder gods? :)
I wote for a RPPR swimsout calander. I would pay good money to see Ross in a bikini
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Alright...brainstorming additional stretch goals. GO!
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Video sketch of cuthulu investigators opening the boxes from lover in the ice. More later as i think them up.
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It wouldn't fit the theme, but maybe some materials from your A Dirty World stuff. Also preview AP games are always a great prize.
Also I don't know if it's been done before, but maybe a commentary track, or commentaries in the game materials from the original playtesters. Like anecdotes of how they felt at certain points, how wrong they were about certain decisions or about where they thought the game was going, or how creeped out they were at a certain point (i.e. Tom with the Bird in the cage in Lover In The Ice), etc. etc.
So stoked that this Kickstarter has done so well. Can't wait to see what else Hebanon Games has in store.
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It's sort of a gag but a CoC module set in gencon? Zombies are always cool, do something with zombies? Something palladium? :p.
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Well Caleb, I hope you like scheduling nightmares, cause you just forced me to buy a spot in the skype game.
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More stretchy goals!
You'll put a write up your Cthulhu Dark scenario?
A swimsuit calender?
A recorded game of Pantheon where everyone plays elder gods? :)
I wote for a RPPR swimsout calander. I would pay good money to see Ross in a bikini
I would pay money to avoid seeing that.
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Assuming it's alright with Stolze: a release of your Dangers of Fraternization game.
More suggestions to come if I think of anything. I'm pumpt as heck for the skype game btw.
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Stretch Goals! You'll like these.
-An adventure using Old School Hack, set in a small dungeon built on top of and within the innards of a Space Whale.
-Same as above, only using Cthulhu Dark. ;D
-CoC stats for a Space Whale themed Great Old One
-SPAAAAAACE WHAAAAAAALES
Alright, so the first two are serious.
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Alright...brainstorming additional stretch goals. GO!
Another stretch goal.
Pre gen characters for horror games. 5-8 per set in a few sets. Make sure they the characters are well connected and have complementary skill sets. Get moody to make character portraits. Make on set be Delta green investigators, another be university archaeology dig team, another be a group of great depression vagabonds and so on. This would only be interesting if the characters are interesting. I can see GMs wanting this. I know I would want this to give to my group of oldies with not enough time to make characters.
EDIT: Just went to the kickstarter and noticed that one of the pledge levels has something like this...My bad.
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@ AmishNinja
I'm going to release Dangers of Fraternization already, without a stretch goal. It will be the first entry on hebanongames.com, to sort of tide people over until we get No Security. Nothing fancy, but...you know...free.
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Seeing as you're heading for 4k in short order Caleb, what do you have planned for 4.5 or 5?
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@beej
A desperate plea to lower expectations?
Truthfully, I have no idea. We long ago left the realm of possibilities that I had planned for. I'm still open to ideas though.
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@beej
A desperate plea to lower expectations?
Truthfully, I have no idea. We long ago left the realm of possibilities that I had planned for. I'm still open to ideas though.
spaaace whaaaale duuuungeon
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Heya!
I just pledged, told friends to pledge and posted about it on the Yog-Sothoth Radio forums and several others...
If this really goes wild, had you guys considered pledge level for an actual print version (softcover) just for the Kickstarter side of things?
L-
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caleb inbetween covers? i'm not sure we're worthy.
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want to give money + don't have money = head explodey
luckily you seem to have it taken care of... you've totally earned it with your awesome APs. Maybe you should just start charging for Skype games for a living.
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I'd really like to see the famed Andrew's Fortune flowchart. Or, well, more stuff about Andrew's Fortune in general.
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Congrats on destroying your goals my friend. Guess its too late to try and get in on the SKype goodness. But ill donate what little I can on Monday. Now back to watching that crazy Cthulhu anime!
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I copied Lustcraft and threw the kickstarter onto the Hppodcrat forums.
edit
Now over 4k! Caleb is going to make it rain in the club tonight!
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@beej
A desperate plea to lower expectations?
No. Sorry.
You have now passed 4k. What you gonna do man! (in a Jamaican Accent) ;)
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5k reward: Perhaps "Wages of Sin" could be adapted to have a horror aspect. That scenario was dripping with atmosphere.
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Alright, because I'm an idiot that apparently hates free time, I've added another stretch goal.
At $5250, I'll add another scenario to the ransom (5 in total) entitled The Wives of March. The game will be loosely based on my ADW game The Wages of Sin, but with a non-Lovcraftian cosmic horror element in the time period of the American Great Depression.
So, if you want to make me write even more, send people to the link:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/no-security-horror-scenarios-in-the-great-depressi (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159466030/no-security-horror-scenarios-in-the-great-depressi)
And thanks again for all the support! This has been the best week ever!
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@ AmishNinja
I'm going to release Dangers of Fraternization already, without a stretch goal. It will be the first entry on hebanongames.com, to sort of tide people over until we get No Security. Nothing fancy, but...you know...free.
Cool.
The forum's running a bit slow, so I can't check if this was already asked, but: how did the name "Hebanon Games" come about?
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@ AmishNinja
The forum's running a bit slow, so I can't check if this was already asked, but: how did the name "Hebanon Games" come about?
I was wondering that myself, I thought it was a reference to the poison from Hamlet, but I looked it up and it's spelled differently.
@ Cthuluzord
I'm so happy that you are going to be able to start Hebanon Games off right, and adding The Wives Of March just made the Kickstarter even sweeter!
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I'd really like to see the famed Andrew's Fortune flowchart. Or, well, more stuff about Andrew's Fortune in general.
this would make my life. Andrew's Fortune is, like, my favorite thing on the internet.
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I'd really like to see the famed Andrew's Fortune flowchart. Or, well, more stuff about Andrew's Fortune in general.
this would make my life. Andrew's Fortune is, like, my favorite thing on the internet.
This man speaks truly. Seeing that flowchart would make my week.
When I first listened to that game, I did so in a few long sessions broken up over two or three days. It was intense, like marathoning a really great miniseries on Netflix. After Part II ended, I switched over to my Music playlist and the first song that came on was, "The Harder They Come," by Jimmy Cliff. It was, in a really odd reggae sort of way, the perfect outro.
Caleb's kickstarter and Andrew's Fortune FTW.
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Any idea as to when the Bonus APs will be released?
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Sometime in late July to August, when the Kickstarter is all wrapped up and I can start working through the rewards.
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Sometime in late July to August, when the Kickstarter is all wrapped up and I can start working through the rewards.
Rad. I will be waiting on the edge of my seat.
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Caleb, since you're only 600 off from the latest stretch goal, any plans for the next one? :)
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I have no idea. At this point, I'd feel a little irresponsible offering more stretch goals. I have a lot of work cut out for me (even with the scenarios I had completely revised before the Kickstarter launched) and Ean has just as much. Once the school year starts, my writing time is going to shrink down to nothing. I want to ensure that the first product of Hebanon is a quality product that isn't rushed or incomplete, so I think this will be the final stretch goal if it meets.
That being said, I'm excited at the prospect of meeting the stretch goal. I told Ross the concept behind the revised "Wages of Sin," and he looked genuinely creeped out. It's not a reaction I'm used to from our jaded. all-seeing lord and master.
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The student has become the master?
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You know, if you pass the current stretch goal you could make a new wih some regular rppr CoC aps and share that ransom cheese with Ross.
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For those who were interested in the Kickstarter: one of the backers lowered his reward level, so a Skype game ticket has opened up.
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For what it's worth, my brother did a interview with Caleb recently and just thought I'd put up a link to it here. Have yet to listen to it myself as of yet, but hope to soon.
http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648 (http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648)
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@ Arcus: Thanks for the plug! Tell your brother I said hi.
For those interested, hebanongames.com (http://hebanongames.com) is now live and ready for your perusal. There isn't much content up yet, but I've put the full "Dangers of Fraternization" PDF up. Hopefully, you can tide your groups over with some noir until No Security is ready for the light of day.
Thanks again for all the support. If you play through the game, let me know how your session went. I'd love to hear how other groups tackled the situation.
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So the dudes on Something Awful want to know if you plan to record the Skype games. ;D
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I'll have to talk to Ross and see how to do it, but I'd be fine with that. ::)
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At least one of them us Drunk and Ugly guys can record, too. We have uh. Some practice at that.
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For what it's worth, my brother did a interview with Caleb recently and just thought I'd put up a link to it here. Have yet to listen to it myself as of yet, but hope to soon.
http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648 (http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648)
This is cool! I grin and shake my head every time Caleb describes our funding as generosity. This ain't generosity! It's half glowing gratitude for the countless hours of awesome we've already been fed for free gratis nothing and half raw hunger to see this kind of stuff see the light of day and our sticky hands.
Caleb, do you realize that when you get around to publishing Know Evil in whatever form it eventually takes you're going to essentially coil the entire Eclipse Phase universe around your vision of it? You must've done more thinking and writing about the setting than anyone outside of Posthuman. It'll be a thing of beauty.
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Awww....(blush and hand wave) You guys! :-*
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For what it's worth, my brother did a interview with Caleb recently and just thought I'd put up a link to it here. Have yet to listen to it myself as of yet, but hope to soon.
http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648 (http://www.boosterpack.org/?p=648)
This is cool! I grin and shake my head every time Caleb describes our funding as generosity. This ain't generosity! It's half glowing gratitude for the countless hours of awesome we've already been fed for free gratis nothing and half raw hunger to see this kind of stuff see the light of day and our sticky hands.
Caleb, do you realize that when you get around to publishing Know Evil in whatever form it eventually takes you're going to essentially coil the entire Eclipse Phase universe around your vision of it? You must've done more thinking and writing about the setting than anyone outside of Posthuman. It'll be a thing of beauty.
Agreed!
I mean for me Candle Cove got me into the AP's, and Caleb's games (including the dirty worlds games, which surprised me as I don't usually like "non fantastical" scenarios) kept me coming back. I love all the other games too, but Caleb's games definitively get my attention above the rest. They're like the specials in your favorite TV... er... radio show.
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So how much is the stretch reward for seeing a one-shot of Augustine & the Fire Wall crew meeting the Doctor?
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So how much is the stretch reward for seeing a one-shot of Augustine & the Fire Wall crew meeting the Doctor?
That probably wouldn't end well for them, given Caleb's dim views about Doctor Who. He did compare the Doctor to the Great Old Ones in Episode 73, after all.
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Is it me or did that Dissolution [Funny Story] thread read like someone who's been psycosurgeried by Bartlebee and left in simalspace for too long?
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Is it me or did that Dissolution [Funny Story] thread read like someone who's been psycosurgeried by Bartlebee and left in simalspace for too long?
it sounded direct out of the Titan matchatbot on the Luna base!
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My favorite spam message on my blog was this one:
Unquestionably imagine that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the web the simplest thing to take into account of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while other folks consider concerns that they plainly do not understand about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest and outlined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , folks can take a signal. Will probably be again to get more. Thank you
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That might be the best spam ever. It's like... poetry. I'm making part of that my signature on the Eclipse Phase forums.
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So great minds think alike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CagMNLxa9M
Caleb and Fractional Games, exploring the boundaries of porcine-based horror!
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Not gonna lie, when I saw the the monster designs on Kickstarter for the Chicago scenario, I didn't think it was a [spoiler]Ghoul[/spoiler], until I saw the name of it. After I wondered how I hadn't seen it before, It's a really cool design for them.
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The first of No Security scenarios, Bryson Springs, is done and available for download. Check it out at hebanongames.com (http://hebanongames.com). Thanks for all the love RPPR; this wouldn't be possible without you guys.
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I just read Bryson Springs. Beautifully done good sir. I can't want to murder my players ... I mean run it for my players :D
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Good read. One typo I did notice: when you write about the Kelly family, you use the plural with an apostrophe (eg, the Kelly's). There is no need for any punctuation there, as far as I can see.
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I might try to run Bryson Springs for my group sometime in the next week or two. If I can swing the game, I'll probably record it and put it on the AP feed on my site, though I can't promise any of my friends will top Aaron accidentally setting fire to the orange grove. Maybe I'll see if I can stat it out for nWoD, just to change things up.
Dragged through The Hedge by a marionette? I think yes...
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Dragged through The Hedge by a marionette? I think yes...
Oh man. Those guys are never ever coming back from Arcadia.
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I passed the PDF along to my Mage ST. Im using the events as a story my toon head during his training. I think my st plans on introducing the mannequins as a threat sometime soon as we're investigation mind controlling dolls currently.
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Sweet! Even if no one plays the scenario, I'd be psyched to see the monsters pop up in other games.
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I'm gonna have some time on the 14th when I can't run my normal game. Think I might run Bryson Springs for anyone hanging around the game shop.
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I would just like to add in my complete adoration for Caleb and his amazing-ness. Caleb, you are my GM-ing hero. I'm pretty excited to run Bryson Springs for our Cthulhu Thursdays.
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Another game I'd like to hear Caleb run is Continuum -- the best Time Travel RPG ever invented where the Laws of Time Travel are social...
http://www.aetherco.com/continuum/
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Rag-NERD-rok podcast has posted an Bryson Springs AP! The Hebanon take over has begun!
http://ragnerdrok.com/
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Caleb, the ransom preview episodes were awesome! Worth every penny.
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Glad you like it! Now I just need my hosting service to get back to me so I can get more bandwidth!
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Fall Without End is a great listen, especially with Ross and Thad going back and forth like two guys with zero business being on a frozen mountain. Red Tower was good; I was listening to it while doing some other things so I might have missed details because it seemed alot weaker as a scenario. I did love Aaron's "plan" for "infiltrating" the "enemy".
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Finished both ransom APs.
Super excited to see the finished version of The Fall Without End now. It is cinematic as hell, and the monster is beyond awesome.
I am interested to see where The Red Tower goes, it was a playtest with a lot of potential behind it, but not a fully formed scenario. The [spoiler]factory as the big bad[/spoiler] is an AWESOME idea though.
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@Salkovich
Yeah, The Red Tower playtest was more of a proof of concept run than anything else. No that my part of the complete PDF is done, I can tell you that the story is MUCH more "fleshed out" than the first run through. I think it will probably a two-shot for most groups, and it is probably one of the more investigation heavy scenarios I've ever written.
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@Salkovich
Yeah, The Red Tower playtest was more of a proof of concept run than anything else. No that my part of the complete PDF is done, I can tell you that the story is MUCH more "fleshed out" than the first run through. I think it will probably a two-shot for most groups, and it is probably one of the more investigation heavy scenarios I've ever written.
This makes me extremely happy.
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The Red Tower is complete and ready for download over at http://hebanongames.com/ (http://hebanongames.com/). Go download it, give it a read, and tell us what you think.
Thanks again for all the support guy. This wouldn't be possible without my forum buddies. You guys rock!
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I look forward to reading it tonight while my group makes EP characters. Caleb I think it's a good thing you're holding back on reading Rimward, I see a lot of stuff you could use, even as a one shot.
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Passed your materials along to Changeling and Mage STs...I almost heard the cackling through the internets. I'm running my mage players through the Red Tower tonight. :)
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@ Beej
Thanks dude! I reread and "The Dunwich Horror" last night. I'd forgotten how much that one depended on cattle murder too. I feel proud of myself now.
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So Red Tower in Mage the Awakening...
The tone wasn't as scary as people had stuff like Kinetic Blow and Control Sound. But fun was had by all.
We had four players, playing as a local cabal. They were investigating the disappearance of two reporters in the meat packing district. One of the reporters was an Sleepwalker informant for the Concillium.
Obrimos Forces/Prime; Mastigo Mind/Spirit/Fate; Moros Death/Matter/Space; Thrysus Life/Spirit/Forces
Notable events...
Moros player jawed at the cops and refused to follow their order to stop loitering in front of the Chambliss slaughterhouse. He got beat the F down and thrown in the back of a patty wagon. (I will note, he critically failed on rolling Mind magic to not get arrested)
A player combining Boxing Fighting Style and Kinetic Blow magic caved in the skull of a ghoul with his first punch.
The Thrysus medic of the group lost an arm to the Cham-Vi Juntan, ended up with upwards of 5 or 6 aggravated damage. I think I went over board with the Cham-Vi Junta. And the lighting wards and the ghouls.
Thompson sub machine gun + Control Sound + Control Light = monsters don't know their buddies are getting shredded around the corner.
End Result: Players didn't figure out the true nature of the Red Tower.
Poking around, they discovered the heavily warded slaughterhouse. At that point they decided not to hop the fences because the were afraid of setting off defensive wards and alerting the bad guys.
They founded up finding out about the tunnel access by hitting county records as well as the Borkowski connect while doing research on Chambliss himself.
After some rather brutal, ham fisted and Wisdom draining applications of Mind magic on the Borkowski family, they surmised that the cattle were being used for a nefarious purpose, probably by a Seer cult to gain mana via ritual sacrifice. (They didn't seem to pick up on the fact for that to be true, there would have had to have been literally hundreds of evil mages in the factory to go through that much cattle on a regular basis.)
They went into the tunnel and started ambushing monsters. None of them had anticipated encountering abyssal monsters (the Cham-Vi). However PCs will never pass up a chance to gun down bad things with thompsons. They didn't think to retreat and get reinforcements in the face of the fact that someone was summoning horrors from beyond time and space instead of running into Seer cultists. (Go-go gadget gamer logic)
After the Thyrsus mage got his arm torn off by a Cham-Vi, they retreated and went to the local Consillium to report their findings. We wrapped things up there because at that point their report would have brought down the Guardians and Adamatine Arrows AKA The FBI/ATF of the Mage world down on the factory.
Everything took about...4ish hours?
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No big paradox erruptions? Those are my favorite part of Mage. Once the players start fighting monsters they sometimes forget to properly mitigate paradox rolls.
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Nope, they only blew Wisdom and Mind controlling rolls.
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So I just got to run A Dirty World. While it is indeed one of my favorite systems to use, damn man you set a high bar.
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I've never had the chance to play Mage, but it sounds like magic would certainly be helpful against a underground maze's worth of gigantic man-eating creatures.
I'm not too surprised they didn't get the full story. I was going for a real old-school horror scenario feel with that one, where knowledge is the only weapon and the mystery is complex. [spoiler]Figuring out that Chambliss is the building, the Cham-Vi Juntan are his digestive system, and the Borkowski's serve as cultists/financiers/feeders requires a lot of investigation. I find most PC's want to get to the shooting faster than that.[/spoiler]
Thanks for telling me about your playthrough. I really appreciate it. I hope some more pop-up here.
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@Journ-a-lst
Thanks man! Did you use pre-gens or let characters roll characters for themselves? Cause pre-gens totally help.
I ran a game recently where characters rolled for themselves. Deputy Cudgel was born, but it definitely wasn't hard-hitting noir storytelling, by any means. ADW is kind of hit or miss like that.
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I ran a game recently where characters rolled for themselves. Deputy Cudgel was born, but it definitely wasn't hard-hitting noir storytelling, by any means. ADW is kind of hit or miss like that.
Timely Tuna (and justice) waits for no man.
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I only have one player so I told him he could make anything he wanted as long as he wanted a journalist or US consulate worker.
The game was Shanghai 1934 about the murder of a cabaret dancer.
My mistakes were: making the murderer less antagonistic to the player, making his boss too friendly, making the Green Gang thugs too weak (the pc was working with the hateful cop, while the PC held two off by shooting and pointing his gun at them, the cop beat two to death*), doing bad accents, giving the player a roll to realize he'd start a riot if he went with his plan** and despite having a couple of weeks to work out the game not being nearly as good as "Wages of Sin" which I hold as the peak of Dirty World games, especially since you claim it only took an hour.
*The cop was the one NPC I was really happy with as he came off as angry and hateful without being silly. The reporter was okay but didn't get much time to develop. I did name him Peter Fallow because stealing from books is good.
**To frog march a thug across Shanghai to the French concession, the thug had a confession to make. The night before the player told the journalist that the murdered woman was pregnant. But the tea house we game in was closing so we had to call it.
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So Bryson Springs...
I ran this with one of my regular Skype players and players from one of his other groups that I had never ran with before.
So...this had a lot more horror, brutality and pc-on-pc violence than Red Tower. My take on the scenario only worked because I had a player I could trust with game break power. And for that, I thank him.
We had a Acanthus Fate mage, a Mastigo Mind mage, a mortal FBI agent, a mortal LA Times Reporter and a mortal county Public Works Employee (his idea..he refused to play a convict)
The two mages were from Santa Barbara looking into the disappearance of Liang Wang, a well known member of the Mysterium order. FBI was called into solve a murder at the WPA wash house quickly and quietly. The Reporter was sent to follow up on rumors of murderous Okies. PublicWorks is in the area doing rounds. (I know..we had to reach)
The big twist I made with the scenario is that the Fisher King is an Exarch (for those who don't play Mage, they are big fucking bads in a reality above us who manipulate everything. The scroll was major artifact that lets Acanthus Seers (minions of Exarchs) to see the strands of Fate and manipulate them...paradox free. This only worked because I trusted the player I gave this too.
So...
PublicWorks & Reporter arrive together to the Hooverville after meeting at and hearing about a murder from the Gas station guy. PublicWorks enters the wash room after being told it was 'broken' and critically failed a composure roll at the sight and ran screaming out of the Hooverville. FBI drives up to see PublicWorks puking and hysterical outside the camp. FBI looks at the wash room and then dragoons the Reporter into helping him interview the Okies. The Okies are pretty tight lipped, with the exception of the revelation of what happened to Annabelle. Meanwhile PublicWorks climbs into FBI's car and refuses to get out cause there's a psycho killer on the loose.
The Mages show up and get questioned by a suspicious FBI. They convince Ye Wang they can help as they are in the same line of work as her dad. She gives them the scroll and notes.
FBI/Reporter/PublicWorks head back to Kraft's. FBI had stopped in at the beginning, found Kraft had a beat up Okie named Kelly who had confessed to murder. FBI hadn't bought the confession believing Kraft had beat it into the boy to close a case quickly.
The trio arrive at the Trooper station to find it a mess. Like the wash house someone had dragged a body along the ceiling and then out a side door. The inside of the place is shot up like Kraft put up a stiff fight before getting..well something bad. Reporter and FBI theorize that Kelly must have escaped during whatever happened and they set about searching the area. The trio end up finding Liang's body in the shed, several buried bodies and finally Kraft's body that looks like it got thrown off a 40 story building. Checking Kraft's records they find out the 'Kelly' in the cell was Jessup Kelly, who has family in the Hooverville and never mentioned their son's arrest...no one did. They arm themselves...because well..gamer logic and head back for the Hooverville.
Meanwhile the two mages go over Wang's papers and what not. Of course when the two mages see “Do not read aloud” they read, because their mages and pcs. They feel like they're hit with a magic hammer and then see strings running up into the sky. A little use of magic on their part reveals that its Fate magic, they are looking at the literal strings of Fate. Acanthus begins experimenting cause its his field of magic and finds he can influence people, like make them change directions walking without them seeming to notice. This freaks them both out because it appears to be paradox free and doesn't require mana. Mastigo can't seem to manipulate the strings and his character gets jealous because it's Fate magic creeping into the realm of Mind magic.
:)
Acanthus keeps 'testing' the ability with the Okies, talking about how much he can't wait to get back to UC Santa Barbara and explore it more. Not to mention how useful it will be against Seers and their agents. Mastigo is not happy with the continued 'testing', telling Acanthus to stop toying with the Okies.
Reporter/PublickWorks/FBI show back up. FBI begins to aggressively questioning Okies about the Kellys, Kraft and the murders. Reporter tries to question Ye Wang but Acanthus uses his 'ability' to 'walk' Reporter away.
PublicWorks wanders out of the Hooverville cause he's still freaked by the wash room. He goes over to the orchard when...the marionette swoops in! (By this point I got the feeling the player just wasn't feeling the game and was temping the had of the GM, so I obliged.)
The mages see the red string appear and slip away to investigate and hear screams coming from the orchard. They book it over and find a magical construct chasing down PublicWorks. Acanthus tries to use his 'ability' but can't, telling Mastigo that it feels like someone else is 'holding it's string.' They resort to slinging magic at it. It appears to be fairly magic resistant, but they draw its attention away from the hapless mortal. Acanthus then threw out the tree solution (he told me later he had heard about it from the Rag podcast like I had) and used his 'ability' to make PublicWorks run by the marionette to get its attention. He controls PublicWorks perfectly and executes the tree solution perfectly. (a couple of fences bit the dust because of paradox)
(I will add Acanthus is now starting to make Wisdom checks and failing them, he's using the power to directly endanger mortals.)
Mastigo is horrified to say the least and two Mages start exchanging heated words. Mastigo threatens Acanthus, saying he's going to report him to Concillum for abusing magic and needlessly endangering civilians. Acanthus goes off on him for being paranoid and jealous and that the scroll is affecting his mind. Then they both see another red thread, off to the west beyond the Hooverville. They grab a now blubbering PublicWorks and fetch their car and head west.
While shit is going down in the orchard, FBI gets Annabelle's father to tell him where the Kellys are with the promise of personally going after Ryan Spelling. FBI and Reporter hop in the car and head west to the ghost town.
FBI and Reporter arrive and are confronted by several Kellys. FBI tries to be reasonable with questioning the Kellys, saying he knows its physically impossible for Jessep to have committed all the murders and all he needs is to speak to the boy about who murdered Kraft. The Kellys tell him to go pound sand. FBI gets pissed and threatens the family that if they don't turn over Jessup, he'll bring them all in for aiding a cop killer and a mass murderer. Pa comes out this point and calls down a marionette. FBI and Reporter make it back to the car in time. FBI pulls out his tommygun and Reporter a pistol and shred the creature. (We're talking like 14 success in two rounds combined). A couple of more Kellys come out and its a firefight. FBI and Reporter are pinned behind their car as the Kellys open up.
Mages & PublicWorks show up. Acanthus uses his 'ability' to force a Kelly to run suicide style at FBI, who guns her down. Mastigo turns on Acanthus and they start slinging spells. Paradox happens because PublicWorks/FBI/Reporter are mortal sleepers. Glass blows out on the Mages' car and cuts them up. Mastigo yells to FBI & Reporter that Acanthus and he are both mages like Pa and that Acanthus will use his powers to kill them if it means saving his own skin.
PA brings down another marionette and sends it at the mages because he knows their mages. Acanthus uses his 'ability' make PublicWorks run suicide style at it. Mastigo uses the chance to double tap Acanthus in the head. PublicWorks gets carried off into the sky, FBI now believes Mastigo because he saw enough of PublicWorks to know he was too much of a coward to be that self sacrificing and it looked exactly the same as what the Kelly girl did. Reporter and FBI drop Pa and Mastigo drives the rest of the Kellys running. FBI decides after everything he has witnessed, that he'd rather be safe than sorry and turns the Tommy gun on Mastigo. Mastigo blows a paradox on a Mind spell and stuns himself. FBI walks up to the now drunkenly stumbling mage and guns him down.
Reporter is rather horrified but agrees to back up whatever story FBI comes up with because no one will believe the truth. FBI gathers up all of Wang's possessions and torches them with the rest of the ghost town. The end.
Yeah.
The mortals were freaked out non-stop after the first glimpse of the wash house. FBI blew several humanity checks along the way. I treated Humanity a little like Sanity.
The Mages descended into paranoia once they read the scroll.
This only really worked because Acanthus's player was on board. He used the 'ability' just the right way. They loved it. I loved running it.
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That is crazy! It sounds like you handled things really well. I'll admit, though I wrote the scenario as systemless, I never imagined a PC having magic powers capable of interacting with the strings. It's always good to a have a player that you can give a red button like that to and know they won't push it. Of course, the reverse is also true.
Your Mage reports have me thinking about running Dresden Files again. The more I think about it, The Red Tower could fit well into a Chicago campaign; death magic is always fun in that setting. I should also read up on Mage; you're selling me on it and I've never played a very magic heavy game.
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Great game beej, I always love a good Mage game.
Magic doesn't make things too much easier for the players if everyone has it. I can still remember the look of surprise on a player's face when an enemy mage dispelled the magical shield the player had used to shrug of mortal harm in several encounters and then just shot him with a handgun. Or after the third time the enemy knew exactly where the surprise attack was going to come from when one of the players had the brain wave: "wait... can they scry too?"
Think of it like running Eclipse Phase only people say "magic (insert name here)" instead of "nano/space (insert name here)".
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Actually, I never thought to make that connection Tadanori but yeah. That is true. There's even telepathy for Tact Net :)
I havent' played Dresden but I hear the city building aspect is great. I think we all would love to see your make a Mage campaign Caleb. Or possibly Changeling.
Mage magic can cause so much mayhem with just minor applications. Your players are loaded down with AR15s, shotguns and magic body armor? Cast Control Sound over their area and max the volume up to 11 and watch them deafen themselves with their own guns. The bad guys using cops to chase you down? Cast Transmitter and broadcast an officer down call several blocks over the radio waves. Or one of my all time favorites is zippo+Control Fire = Oh god it burns!!!
This is assuming of course you don't criticaly fail your paradox roll and pop your buddy's heart like a water balloon.
Fall Without End could work as a Changeling Hedge/Arcadia game. Hmmm.
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Mage really does become a game where out-thinking the enemy is the only real option for success, especially in cabal vs. cabal situations.
The RPPR guys would probably spiral inwards on one another during a Mage game. And, of course, there's poor Aaron who would try to heal people without proper explaination, get Paradox, cause more wounds, etc. Also? Ross + Mind Arcana = urinary tract infections for everyone. I mean, you can see these problems coming a mile off.
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It would be a slow-mo Michael Bay train wreck. It would be glorious.
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Totally. I hope someday I can run WoD for the RPPR guys at GenCon.
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Caleb, I want to say thanks again for the amazing game through Skype.
I don't wanna spoil anything for the next players though, so I'll keep my lips sealed tight. Needless to say, you will all fall in BLIND LOVE with it, be prepared to hold on to your PANTS (*cough* Albert *cough*) and try to go out in a blaze of glory. (It was a beautiful end to my character.)
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You all should thank me for saving you. Absolutely. Saving you.
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You all should thank me for saving you. Absolutely. Saving you.
With my 5% in Psychology, I believe you entirely.
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So many failed checks when they were needed most.
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Achievement Unlocked: Loved by the Lover
That was a blast! I went from 40 SAN to 11, ran through various illicit substances and managed to bring my character to the noblest act he has ever committed.
Thanks again!
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@ Cthuluzord
Caleb.....CALEB!
Lover In The Ice...
It's real, it's all real!
http://www.examiner.com/article/new-species-bizarre-amazonian-penis-snake-gallery-of-pictures (http://www.examiner.com/article/new-species-bizarre-amazonian-penis-snake-gallery-of-pictures)
Let's hope for a cold, cold winter.
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:o
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Welp, there goes being happy I got facehugged during the skype game. : :o
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Welp, there goes being happy I got facehugged during the skype game. : :o
Lucky you, I was trying so hard to get that ending myself, keep it in canon with the good doctor being the one who got away but was infected. But I just ended up getting the shit stabbed out of me with mouth tentacles and then being shredded in a hail of gunfire.
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Welp, there goes being happy I got facehugged during the skype game. : :o
so your mouth got used as a birth canal? nice
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Also, Caleb you have sold a copy of A Dirty World as I went out and bought it after I heard "Wages of Sin."
(Mini-derail, has RPPR thought of including "buy it now links" to games they play or some way to get money from the fans who pick up a system after listening to a game?)
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Also, Caleb you have sold a copy of A Dirty World as I went out and bought it after I heard "Wages of Sin."
(Mini-derail, has RPPR thought of including "buy it now links" to games they play or some way to get money from the fans who pick up a system after listening to a game?)
I do use Amazon affiliate so when you click on an Amazon link on the main RPPR site, I get a few percent of anything you might buy.
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I do use Amazon affiliate so when you click on an Amazon link on the main RPPR site, I get a few percent of anything you might buy.
And that doesn't just apply to the product they link to. If you click on one of those links and proceed to purchase ANYTHING on Amazon, whatever you were going to purchase anyway, they get a cut. But you didn't hear it from me. :-X
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I'm taking a science fiction literature course on Coursera, and one of the books we're on now is The Island of Dr. Moreau. I can't stop thinking about octopi with mops on their heads.
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So second run through of the Red Tower
I wanted to play one of your scenarios for a change so I talked one of my star wars/mage skype guys into running one with me in it.
We went with Changeling the Lost in The Red Tower.
Finn the Irishm (me) - Soldier kith
Edwardo the Mexican - BloodBrute/Draconic kith
Madaline the WASP - Romancer/Incubus kith
Boris the Russian - Corpsegrinder/Gristlegrinder kith
Seth the American mutt - Hunterheart kith
Even though we all had played the scenario before, we had a great time.
So the premise is that there had been a spike of disappearances in the meat-packing district. Additionally the Hedge around the meat-packing district, while always dangerous, was becoming more dangerous (even by Hedge standards). Everyone suspects the activity of a Keeper but someone has to confirm it. So our plucky motley, calling ourselves the South Side Toll, hit the pavement.
Immediately Boris and Edwardo have a hard time casing the packing plants because...they're Hispanic and Russian in Chicago in the 30s. Cops hassle them (that's twice now, if I didn't love bacon so much...) and they find out that none ever works for the Chambliss factory. They also managed to learn a socialist reporter disappeared while investigating the Chambliss plant. For some reason the socialist crowd thought Boris was a fellow comrade socialist because he had a Russian accent and were most talkative concerning the reporter. (PCs manage not to jaw at the cops and get arrested)
Madaline, Finn and Seth braved the Hedge and went to the local goblin market for answers. Seth ended up trading the memory of the last time his daughter sat on his lap listening to the radio with him before his abduction to a goblin for the names of a group of privateers (changeling slavers) who were operating in the area.
Everyone regrouped and swapped info.
Madaline and Seth go talk to the offices of the The Worker and get their mitts on Chappa's address book. They next hit his apartment and find that the place has been ramsacked. At first no one wants to be of any help but eventually the Romancer/Succubus loses her patience and seduces a 50 year old serbian immigrant woman named Senka and gets descriptions of the men who hit Chappa's place. While that is going on, Seth finds the folder in the bathroom...a little soggy.
In the meantime Finn, Boris and Edwardo go back into the Hedge and look for the privateers' hollow. After beating a rather large hedge beast tiger in a game of riddles, they are directed to said hollow and discover it has a hedge gate near it. Using the gate they come back into the real world into an abandoned building next to the Chambliss plant. And by using the gate, I mean a pack of wandering wolves made of rose bushes and tree bark with thorn fangs dripping with black goo had them diving through the gate for their very lives. The Hedge does stuff like that to you.
While searching the building for clues, several cars pull up outside and the trio hide. Seven shady looking men enter and then descend into a previously hidden trapdoor. The players manage to hear the men talking and hearing their names, deducing they must be the privateers. Deciding it would be best to get the hell out, the trio sneak away to meet up with the rest of the group.
Everyone meets up and compare notes. They report the IDs of the privateers and the location of their hollow to the Autumn King, Autumn is the reigning season. They are told to keep digging and when they feel it is time, the King send in a posse of Autumn and Summer courtiers to deal with the privateers and their hollow.
Finn and Seth stake out the abandoned building with the Hedge Gate. However things go pear-shaped when one of the union rabble rousers, who happens to be a courtier, pops his Bedlum ability. The union strikers are sent into an emotional frenzy and attack scabs that are being brought in work a plant. Finn and Seth have to fight their way out of what becomes a riot.
(I felt this was a little bit of a blatant delaying tactic on the part of the GM but it was historiacally authentic so I rolled with it)
Meanwhile Madaline, Boris and Edwardo head to the County Records and take a very hard look at Chambliss and find all sorts of weird facts. The factory was never inspected by the FDA, doesn't pay income tax, doesn't seem to make beef and is engaged in weird property games. The trio then becomes convinced that Chambliss was really abducted in Brazil all those decades ago and was replaced by a fetch. Then they start jumping to wild conclusions that obviously the fetch and privateers are working for some unknown Keeper who is abducting people and buying cattle for unknown reason.
Further digging turns up all the Borkowski weirdness and the trio is off to investigate the house. They swing by and try to talk but are stonewalled, flattly. However they do figure out one important detail...the Borkowskis are under some sort of enscrollment but players are unable to break it.
More regrouping, notes are compared and wounds iced.
They decide to check out the secret chamber in teh building next ot the Chambliss factory. Sneaking in they discover it an old speakeasy that appears to have access to the old underground cattle tunnels. We had to duck into them when the privateers showed up. After about an hour they left, talking about heading to their hollow. We sneak out and ring the Autumn King that he should send people right away if he wants to take out the privateers in one swoop. About an hour later the Autumn King himself shows up with about a dozen Summer and Autumn Courtiers and we all hit enter the Hedge and hit the hollow.
Crazy battle, bark-bears, thorn whips....a cigar smoking, luger totting pitbull looking hedge beast. Lady Bugs loving Aphids....mass hystaria.
Anyway one of the privateers escapes and flees back through the hedge gate. We the players pursue and follow him into the underground cattle tunnels...and run smack into two Cham-Vi Juntan. We freak because we realize A)they're not fae and B) Boris tells us they're not alive. They attack and we actually make short work of them despite our injuries. As a Solider Kith I am a golden god with all things with a blade so I go buck-wild with my meat cleaver and chop the hell out of #1. Then Boris, being a corpsegrinder, bites the jaw off of #1 and starts eating it. This momentarily confuses the second Cham-Vi Juntan because one of us is acting very canibal/ghoul like manner. Madeline unloads her shotgun into the second ghoul and Seth and Edwardo with their Lethal Mein claws F him up. Yes Madaline has a shotgun. A very special Token shotgun that has the nice ability of when it shoots you, you are cursed with bad luck for a round.
We push on after the last privateer, worried now by the undead creatures, the piles of rotting cattle corpses and bones...and Boris still munching on the ghoul skull. Damn corpsegrinders. But after five hours the game was called. We never got to finish.
It was explained after the fact that Chambliss had fallen into the clutches of a exiled True-Fae in Brazil and had been enscrolled by the creature. Chambliss brought the Exiled back to Chicago where IT took over the factory and the Chambliss Estate. The Exiled Fae got a hold of a changeling with the Contracts of Shade and Spirit and used the poor bastard to open Black Gate...portals to the Underworld. The Exile had struck a deal with some nightmarish entity. The entity was supplied with cattle so it could use the cattle flesh for some, probably not pleasant, purposes and in return the Exile got use of ghouls as real world agents. Also the Exile hired/blackmailed/coerced privateers to abduct humans and exchange them for changeling slaves in goblin markets. Eventually the Exile Fae happened to return to Arcadia and retake his realm.
The end game was to uncover this and bring down the full wrath of the Courts on the Exile...I'm glad we never made it that far because even an Exiled Fae is scary. An Exile with ghouls, a factory half in the real world, half in the Hedge and open Death Gates? F that noise!
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I, apparently, really need to read and play some Mage. I recognize my scenario in there, but all the other vocab left me behind. It sounds like a fun, crazy game though. Thanks for writing such a detailed playthrough description!
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I, apparently, really need to read and play some Mage. I recognize my scenario in there, but all the other vocab left me behind. It sounds like a fun, crazy game though. Thanks for writing such a detailed playthrough description!
I don't know how much Mage you'll have to read in order to learn the setting for Changeling the Lost but I'm guessing a lot.
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See? That's what I'm talking about.
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Downloaded Lover in the Ice, looks kewl. Working on the mage port already :)
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Wow, that Seeder image is pretty boss.
As an aside to dark humor I notice that a freak storm was responsible for the delay of Lover in the Ice.
I think I'm gonna throw this at some poor assholes using World of Darkness for mortals.
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Hey Caleb,
I downloaded the draft of Lover in the Ice and it looks great. I can't wait to see the final version. I did have two questions though, if you have a chance to answer. Have you had a chance to playtest it not using Delta Green as a backdrop, such as using one of the scenarios you mentioned in the PDF? Second, How come the bird in the cage didn't make it into Whitehead's menagerie of weird things? Not complaning, just wondering. Loving all the stuff from Hebanon and excited to see more.
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I did not have a chance to playtest it outside DG, but I'm confident it will work as long as players are familiar with a investigative game.
I wanted to use the bird, but he's from the DG Green Box generator and I didn't want to steal anybody's cool ideas. Plus, some of the other items in the Whitehead collection are from Hebanon scenarios that have yet to be released and other I just made up. I guess that's kind of the Easter Egg part of the game.
I'm glad you're digging it. Tell us how the playthrough goes.
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Preemptive Self-defense
What the fuck? What the fucking fuck? Fuck man, I have to live with that shit in my mind now. Fuck! I wanted to sleep tonight, now I'm gonna have to stay up until dawn.
And I'm only like twenty minutes in. Fuck!
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Preemptive Self-defense
What the fuck? What the fucking fuck? Fuck man, I have to live with that shit in my mind now. Fuck! I wanted to sleep tonight, now I'm gonna have to stay up until dawn.
And I'm only like twenty minutes in. Fuck!
Yeah, agreed. That game scared the shit out of me. The monster was just so horribly alien and yet recognizable
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It's why I fear and hope for a little fears game run by Caleb XD, You all know it would be awesome!
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Just want to say the Long Island game was one of the most amazing things I've heard on RPPR. It's right up there with the Gaga game.
"The nose is glowing with symbolic significance."
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"A plot point smacks you in the face."
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That game is the reason you should have some controle over what characters the players bring to the table. I can't belive that Aaron actually brought a tribal fisherman to the game.
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That game is the reason you should have some controle over what characters the players bring to the table. I can't belive that Aaron actually brought a tribal fisherman to the game.
I know I pointed that out during character creation but Caleb insisted each player make whatever PC he wanted to.
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I know I pointed that out during character creation but Caleb insisted each player make whatever PC he wanted to.
Yes, but if I recall correctly it was you who deputized me with the tree branch ceremony.
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To make sure you stayed in the game, Mr. I need to fish for tuna!
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To be fair, the cop wasn't too sharp, maybe that's how he got the job all those years ago?
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Preemptive Revenge was incredibly creepy and unsettling in a way that I'm not sure Caleb has managed in the past. Very good for an improvised game with a two and a half hour prep time. I can't wait to see what 'monster' he comes up with next.
The Long Island game was hilarious. I love how at first, the players glossed over the fact that it was still prohibition but they went for the (illegal) bar to start drinking anyway, as if it were normal.
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Awww shucks...thanks guys!
I can't really take credit for either idea, though. Preemptive Revenge come out of PC behavior in Eclipse Phase (horrific in any context other than Eclipse Phase) and my best attempt at trying to run Continuum. The Long Island game came from one of my former student. I miss her crazy-ass, but always interesting, interpretations of our books.
Deputy Cudgel for the WIN!
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I think preemtive revenge worked so well because you started with children and the tried you best to drive them insane. Children and horror is just...well...horrible.
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Just got through the first of the extra New Arcadia APs and without any spoilers, Caleb you are a dangerous madman. Bravo sir.
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Gotta say Ive actually been trying to formulate a game idea based on Calebs suggestion about getting a knock on the door during a game. Thinking of using that as the trigger as the players are some seperate listeners who live in the same town as the podcasters as there having a live game run on Halloween. Then something strangely terrifying happens to the podcasters, and the players, after hearing the wierdness then have to figure out what happend.
Seriously, I was laughing so hard from that part of the game before the horror began. Thank you Caleb.
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Gotta say Ive actually been trying to formulate a game idea based on Calebs suggestion about getting a knock on the door during a game. Thinking of using that as the trigger as the players are some seperate listeners who live in the same town as the podcasters as there having a live game run on Halloween. Then something strangely terrifying happens to the podcasters, and the players, after hearing the wierdness then have to figure out what happend.
Seriously, I was laughing so hard from that part of the game before the horror began. Thank you Caleb.
which game was that and who was at the door that time?
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Dude! The Halloween game! Remember the little Spiderman who gave no fucks? Just came to the door with her hand out, took the candy, and left. Kid was like a 3 year old version of Omar from the Wire.
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Lol, yeah sorry, should have mentioned the game (though it was mentioned previously). the Preemtive Revenge game from the preview APs.
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Dude! The Halloween game! Remember the little Spiderman who gave no fucks? Just came to the door with her hand out, took the candy, and left. Kid was like a 3 year old version of Omar from the Wire.
hahahah oh right. She was awesome.
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Caleb is great, and I suggest we find a way to have him cloned so we can all have them
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I hope you have more stories that end with "...and a week later, the house blew up because they were cooking meth in the basement."
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I can just see it now.
"I went to see my parents last month... and a week later, the house blew up because they were cooking meth in the basement."
I started teaching in this neew school ...and a week later, the house blew up because they were cooking meth in the basement."
I once bought some milk at the corner store ...and a week later, the house blew up because they were cooking meth in the basement."
I think we can all see the corilation.
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Love the Halloween episode Caleb. I have a question, the little blurb you read at the end about people traveling back to caveman time, where is that from?
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Fuck you, Caleb!
FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU
FUCK YOU!
You know what happens when normal people only have a couple hours to prep for a game? You get some cultists, in a house, with a human sacrifice, and a Shoggoth. Is that good enough for Caleb? FUCK NO. He has to come up with goddamn time-traveling 4chan trolls from the future using total surveillance history as pseudo-precognition, in a fucking three-act structure spanning thirty motherfucking years!
How about you slip in a puddle of FUCK YOURSELF. I'm gonna go find a beautiful woman to hit on, so that when she looks horrified and grabs for her can of Mace I DON'T FEEL AS BAD ABOUT MYSELF AS I DO RIGHT NOW.
...in all seriousness, that was really fucking impressive. Congratulations. And fuck you.
;D
Best line of the game: "Pastor Glancy pulls out his Deagle."
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http://hebanongames.com/no-security-the-fall-without-end-pdf/
For those interested, the latest PDF from the No Security ransom is up. This is the mountain-climbing game Ross bitched about for a year. So if you're looking to piss your players off in the same way, give it a play and tell me how things go.
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Just finished reading through "The Fall Without End". Can't wait to get to play through it, but for now I'll just listen to the Actual Play again.
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Figuring out how to run it in mage.
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I'm finally going to run a version of Lover in the Ice this Sunday in my Delta Green campaign. Since my players are heavily involved with the Karotechia and Herr Galt, I'm adding some of that German spice to the mix.
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Heroes of New Arcadia Plot Stuff:
[spoiler]Norm went out like a boss.[/spoiler]
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Har de har har!!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0687224/
The almanac is forecasting a rainstorm through Avonlea, which is bad news for Alec as if so, he will lose his hay crop if he can't harvest it before the rains. Alec is already short of manpower with Felix working at the hotel and Felicity concentrating on her studies. So Alec believes it is providence when a stranger named Caleb Stokes takes refuge from the possible storm in the King's barn. Alec offers Caleb a short term job haying, and lodging in the barn, both which Caleb readily accepts. Although Alec appreciates the hard work and knowledge with which Caleb does his farm work, others are a little more suspicious of the stranger, namely Janet for who the safety of her family is foremost, and Hetty who is just naturally the suspicious type. Caleb is not forthcoming with information about himself, but the Kings can see that he is a man with two sides: he is obviously well read and well educated, yet seems to thrive doing farm work. These opposing aspects raise more questions than ...
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I'm going to lay this down straight.
Caleb, Kickstart your Weird West system.
I will give you money.
Lots of money.
Since the British pound sterling is worth $1.5341 per unit (at the moment) I can assure you that me giving you money will be worth more.
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Since the kuai is .1615 per unit my patronage may be less, but I would have great interest in such a system.
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I'm considering it. I'm making a character sheet for it today, and we are going to try it out in a couple of weeks. If it works and is fun, I'd try to get it on KS sometime at the end of summer.
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I know at least two players in my current gaming circle who would be interested in just the kind of world that you describe. I could get a group together to play it easily.
If you do go forward with development I'd love the chance to play test for you.
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I'm considering it. I'm making a character sheet for it today, and we are going to try it out in a couple of weeks. If it works and is fun, I'd try to get it on KS sometime at the end of summer.
This pleases me
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Ironically if Caleb works fast enough, he could launch a Kickstarter for his game and release it before Far West ever hits the market http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Adamant/far-west-western-wuxia-mashup-adventure-game
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I finally remembered the other game idea!
I wanted to say that the second game idea from the new podcast, normal people deciding to kill a super being, sounded extremely appealing. It'd make a heck of a game if you could do it right. I love the pitch of normal people deciding that the Joker needs to die (and stay dead).
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I'm considering it. I'm making a character sheet for it today, and we are going to try it out in a couple of weeks. If it works and is fun, I'd try to get it on KS sometime at the end of summer.
Cool
When I was listening to the show I felt something was missing. Jared Sorensens 3 questions of game design, more so the qestion of how does the mechanic of the game support the goals of the game. So maby you guys skipped all that because you were just doing pitches and maby not. So I'm just going to leave the link here: http://stockade.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/the-3-questions-1/
These questions are something I feel should be apart of any game design discussion. Now on the other and, If you are just making a setting...feel free to ignore.
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I finally remembered the other game idea!
I wanted to say that the second game idea from the new podcast, normal people deciding to kill a super being, sounded extremely appealing. It'd make a heck of a game if you could do it right. I love the pitch of normal people deciding that the Joker needs to die (and stay dead).
hell, I can do that as a Base Raiders source book
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hell, I can do that as a Base Raiders source book
I'd buy it.
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hell, I can do that as a Base Raiders source book
I'd buy it.
I'd buy three.
Then my wife would criticise my spending habits.
Then I'd have to return two copies or sell them on via Ebay.
But I'd still buy a copy.
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Man, the other day I listened to the episode and was thinking about the concept of running a weird west game but really wasn't going to any time soon. And then my buddies come by for the weekly 1920s Paranormal game I run and during their smoke break they ask if I'd want to run a set of one off scenarios that might link to our 1920s game in that the 1920s investigators head out west to uncover something that was the focus of the western game (they only know the podcast through me and I hadn't talked to them about the last episode, weird but not uncommon link thought process or real world PC hive mind?). Now, planning to run a game that will play similar to Caleb's 2 Epochs and Weird West game ideas but obviously my own take on the subject... thanks Caleb.
By the way, for the concept in 2 Epochs about the player's actions from the past game being interpreted in the future game, I was thinking what if you were to use a basic d6 and 1-2 is a negative glorified account of the actions, 3-4 is a fairly accurate account of the actions, and 5-6 is a positive glorified account of the actions? You could even just get rid of the accurate account and just use positive or negative glorified accounts of the actions or what ever. Just something I thought when thinking on that aspect of the concept. Leave it to the dice how your past actions get interpreted in the future?
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Caleb's game of the year 2013 http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/13/space-whale/#more-149426
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsYL1GrYPVc
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Thank you, Caleb, for the year and a half long epic journey. I can safely say that Know Evil has, is currently, and will always inspire my writing and gaming.
This campaign was brilliant, and I'm very, very happy you were able to share the ride with us. I miss it already.
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Thanks Salkovich. I'm gonna miss seeing it up there every few weeks too. It was fun, and I'm sad to see it go.
You guys are great for saying such nice things about it. It warms me heart.
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It warms me heart.
Oh see there is where you slip up. It is well known that Caleb has no heart having traded it in a dark park long ago.
Seriously though I have very much enjoyed No Evil through it's run. Between this and your work with the No Security scenario set I think you have a bright future ahead of you. I just wish I could say it would be a extremely lucrative future but hopefully you can carve out a comfortable space for yourself. I know I will be supporting your works as best I can.
It was No Evil and some of the other RPPR work that got me back into role playing. I had left the hobby for a while but am back and while I am not running anything of the complexity or scope of no evil I have run a few one shots and am working on a few things. It is good to have a hobby again and it has let me reconnect with a group of people I had lost touch with as life keep intruding. It is this, more so than the enjoyment of No Evil, that I have to thank you for.
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Caleb, Know Evil is amazing. The story is so god damn good. Your GMing was fan-fucking-tastic. The players were crazy good. There are geeks all across the nation that would shank their fellow human beings for your binder full of game notes. You are have the EP equivalent of the nuclear football briefcase in your possession.
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Excellent work, Caleb.
As GM myself, I would like to highlight my favorite aspects of this campaign.
The structure, the campaign "walked" us around a fair share of the universe, each tier focussing on one type of society/world. Each tier was also associated with a strong theme, like sacrifice or moral dilemna.
You also integrated nicely the PC's background in the plot to make the story that more personal.
Details of the opponents, that were never just punching ball or target practices. Each one of them has its specialties, making the confrontation that more unique. Whether it was the station deathtrap with a fight in 0-g (was it Luna tier ?), the commando operation (Luna bank), Basilisk, Titan... wide range of opponents, with all different abilities.
Thank you very much to you and the RPPR team for the excellent entertainment.
And the poster is spot on ! ;)
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Thank you! I really appreciate it. I'm glad you like the campaign. I hope we can get it out there in book format for you someday, but until then I'll try and make the next big thing less than a total disappointment. Thanks again for making my day.
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Speaking of getting it published as a book, I just finished listening to the last episode and i was wondering how you'd feel if the RPPR listeners chipped in together to pay for the $2,500 donation for the Transhuman Kickstarter on your behalf. I'm not really using this second kidney very much and I think its a fair trade in to see Know Evil as a published Campaign/Source Book.
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Stop me if I'm off here: Ecliphase Phase is creative commons. Caleb doesn't actually need to do much besides just make the book and publish it, right? The stuff in Eclipse Phase is available without too many hoops, as long as he follows the creative commons liscense. The KS pledge would mean that it would be an eventual part of the 'official' Eclipse Phase game line.
If RPPR fans wanted to chip it could be done for a Kickstarter specifically for a No Evil campaign book.
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How would I feel? Umm...terrified to let down so many nice peoples' expectations? Yeah, I'd feel like that.
Additionally, Posthuman emailed me back and said they are taking things into consideration. That is far from a certainty, but it would still be preferable to work with them than to do it alone. Firstly, I feel like collaboration with PH would be make the campaign far better than what I could pull off on my own. Secondly, it costs something like 30,000 to 40,000 to pull off a hardcover glossy book with original art, which is the quality we've come to expect of EP books and what I would like Know Evil to stack up against. Were I to try and fund the book myself, I could make a serviceable product--maybe even afford a color pages in a softcover of reduced size--but I don't think even with y'alls fantastic support I could raise that much capital for my very first RPG print.
Dear god...even if I did I'd probably poop myself and die of shock.
Anyway, I think we should wait and see. Perhaps $2500 is the going license price and we can worry about it at a later date when we have more info.
Thanks for the continued interest and support. It does me more good than you'll ever know.
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And EP is Creative Commons with a non-commercial clause. That means that if I released a Word document or PDF--or even if I made all the art and layout myself--and dumped it for free on the internet, it would not be in violation of the copyright. If I make money off Know Evil, it is a clear violation of the copyright.
Even if I ran a KS just to cover the cost of production--hiring artists, graphic designers, etc--how would I quantify the bare minimum needed for making the project? The second it made more than that amount, I'd be in violation of the license.
Most importantly, I don't want to do anything without the EP creators' blessing. It's not like I came up with Know Evil and a system for running it. The campaign wouldn't exist without their awesome game and setting. I wouldn't want to do anything without at least their consent.
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My own two cents would be that I am very unlikely to run a game of the scope of No Evil so would rather see new/other content issue forth from the Caleb mill. I will of course buy No Evil if/when it does see the light of day but would prefer to see new things.
I do understand not wanting to step on any ones toes especially if they are people you respect and are currently working with.
On the other hand maybe you should just ask your self what would Bartleby do?
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Stop me if I'm off here: Ecliphase Phase is creative commons. Caleb doesn't actually need to do much besides just make the book and publish it, right? The stuff in Eclipse Phase is available without too many hoops, as long as he follows the creative commons liscense. The KS pledge would mean that it would be an eventual part of the 'official' Eclipse Phase game line.
If RPPR fans wanted to chip it could be done for a Kickstarter specifically for a No Evil campaign book.
Let's review the EP Creative Commons License:
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
To view a copy of this license, visit:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
or send a letter to: Creative Commons, 171 Second Street,
Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
What this means is that you are free to copy, share, and
remix the text and artwork within this book under the fol
lowing conditions:
1) you do so only for noncommercial purposes;
2) you attribute Posthuman Studios;
3) you license any derivatives under the same license.
For specific details, appropriate credits, and updates/changes
to this license, please see: http://eclipsephase.com/cclicense
Noncommercial is a key word here. If you want to help, be sure to let the Eclipse Phase authors know what you think about Know Evil!
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Noncommercial is a key word here. If you want to help, be sure to let the Eclipse Phase authors know what you think about Know Evil!
That´s what I have been doing.
Here is their website (http://eclipsephase.com/).
Go forth and tell there there is a product for them to sell here...Or add as a stretch goal for the current kickstarters...Hmmm
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Ah, see I was way off. This is why you shouldn't get legal advise from the internet. Thank you Ross.
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KS a fund for paying Posthuman sutdios the license fees sounds like what the Rifftrax guys did for getting the license for Twlight. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rifftrax/rifftrax-wants-to-riff-twilight-live-in-theaters-n
So it is probably do-able through KS.
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What if the RPPR fan base backed Transhuman as one backer, pooled our resources and pledged $2,500 to get Caleb the rights to publish Know Evil as an official Eclipse Phase Campaign supplement?
You know it makes sense.
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While I agree with the logistical issues of making sure you don't accidentally make any money (hey, just pay me to edit with whatever's left over!) I wouldn't think of putting out a free EP campaign as working without Posthuman's blessing. They gave it a CC license for a reason. Their intention was to make it available for noncommercial user-created content.
I don't know that I would play it even if you did release it. Trying to re-create Know Evil could be fun, but it would never be the same, and there are so many themes to explore in Eclipse Phase. Maybe I would with a group that never heard it, but I doubt it would ever be as cool as the original. But I would definitely get a copy and read it and use it to steal ideas from you more than I already am... yes, my Firewall agents are currently working under Proxy Zealot.
I'm sad to see it go, but awesome ending to the campaign. [spoiler]And the game I'm running started a few weeks ago... thankfully Ross didn't go all Fox Mulder and ruin the internal consistency of my game by leaving Firewall![/spoiler]
Also, I've got to know, how did Manjappa become immortal before everyone else?
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Hey Caleb, how do you spell the name of the crazy Chinese gangster mentioned in the most recent RPPR episode? I need to learn about this crazed man.
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Hey Caleb, how do you spell the name of the crazy Chinese gangster mentioned in the most recent RPPR episode? I need to learn about this crazed man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Wing_Mock
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For me Eclipse Phase was just another niche RPG that I had no interest in. Another indie title with hopelessly complicated game mechanics that seemed alien to me. I couldn't even begin to bother my ADD-rattled brain with it. The few oneshots you guys had run didn't really sell me on it like the CoC ones had done previously. I wasn't very excited about the campaign as it started and I honestly only really started to listen because my job has many boring hours to kill.
To my thoughts about it now that the campaign has come to a close, I'd really like a chance to either play or run an EP game myself. Sometimes it's hard to learn a new rule set and it can be more difficult by how tied in to an entirely new setting it can all be. But these games really made it clear for me. The only complaint I can think of is how in the world am I going to talk my friends into investing the time to understand the setting, hah. Great listen, thanks guys.
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What if the RPPR fan base backed Transhuman as one backer, pooled our resources and pledged $2,500 to get Caleb the rights to publish Know Evil as an official Eclipse Phase Campaign supplement?
You know it makes sense.
A... Anyone?
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Sorry Wooberman, looks like there aren't alot of grass root takers.
It's just as well; I believe Caleb mentioned not being ready to produce the book in the near future. A time will come.
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Ah well, Worth a try.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrh7hqNIM51qii6tmo1_500.gif)
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well this topic discusses it in detail http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php/topic,1691.0.html
the long and the short of it is: don't worry, Caleb's on it.
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don't worry, Caleb's on it.
Can we get a shirt with that on the front featuring a cartoon of Caleb surrounded by stacks and stacks of paper, the RPPR logo on the back? Because I'd wear that all the time. And to every RPPR meet up.
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don't worry, Caleb's on it.
Can we get a shirt with that on the front featuring a cartoon of Caleb surrounded by stacks and stacks of paper, the RPPR logo on the back? Because I'd wear that all the time. And to every RPPR meet up.
Seconded.
F***IN' TAKE MY MONEY YOU BASTARDS!!
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trust me, I want your money
but I gotta finish my Kickstarter before I launch another one
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trust me, I want your money
And we have our Ross shirt. These things just write themselves.
Tom, Jason, anybody else want to drop some wisdom?
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trust me, I want your money
And we have our Ross shirt. These things just write themselves.
Tom, Jason, anybody else want to drop some wisdom?
Caleb - Death Trap is singular, and therefore incorrect.
Ross - Ross Payton is a horrible monster.
Thad - Rub science on it.
Jason - A broken toy for your broken home.
Tom - There are monsters in the school, Tom.
Aaron - Oh! I'm Sorry!
Italics denote Aarons sarcastic voice.
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trust me, I want your money
but I gotta finish my Kickstarter before I launch another one
Oh, Ross has so many ideas of how to take your money. Soon there will be Puritan Era CoC games. Posthuman CoC Carcosa games. And so many other things. You don't even know.
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trust me, I want your money
but I gotta finish my Kickstarter before I launch another one
Oh, Ross has so many ideas of how to take your money. Soon there will be Puritan Era CoC games. Posthuman CoC Carcosa games. And so many other things. You don't even know.
And I only have so much money at a time...
But he will have the lion's share of when the time comes.
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Aaron - Oh! I'm Sorry!
Italics denote Aarons sarcastic voice.
Sarcastic? I reserve that solely for work.
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Just saw the new stretch goal for the Kickstarter Transhuman. If they hit 80k they bring Caleb (and maybe the RPPR crew) onboard to write a new scenario.
I hope it happens and while this maybe a bit premature but based on KickTraq the trend is for this to become a reality so congrats to Caleb.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/507486226/transhuman-the-eclipse-phase-players-guide/posts/483020?
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A week to pledge $10,000? I hope we hit it!
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Tim beat me to it, but here's what I can say about things.
At $80K, Posthuman Studios will hire me to write a stand alone scenario that could also serve as a prequel for a group looking to start Know Evil.
In addition to being...well, just pretty darn swell for me, the success of this stretch goal would be a good sign that much lengthier publications (wink wink nudge nudge) might be in order.
There are 6 days left to pledge. Any an all support would be appreciated.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/507486226/transhuman-the-eclipse-phase-players-guide/posts/483020?ref=email&show_token=ffb0e9f56fdcc8d7
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I upped my pledge. I was thinking I wanted some of the goodies from the levels higher than I was pledge at anyway but this was a nice little incentive to think I might help get a new scenario produced and hopefully let Caleb add to his resume.
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Saw Caleb Stokes and instantly upped my pledge. I really hope you'll reach 80k.
Nice, the Dollar has dropped (or already was low) so I'll pop $90.
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A chance to get new EP books and PDFs, AND a potential Caleb adventure? Third kickstarter I've bought into, and the one I'm proudest to fund.
I like this plan, and I've gone WAAAAYYY past excited.
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Well I guess I have to go all in now.
Let us be the illegal mafia booze to your Gatsby and elevate you to wealth, glamour, and complete happiness.
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I suppose those morph recognition cards would be dandy, and I didn't need that extra $20.00...
Congratulations and good luck!
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I'm already in for 100 but I might add some rec cards and maybe a book. I need me some Stokes-ey goodness.
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Five grand shy and four days to go. Dear metal lord Caleb, to whom we must all swear, let your gaming goodness rain down on your chose children as it should.
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Fuck it, all in. $130.00 down, finally getting that physical copy of Eclipse Phase. I believe in Know Evil!
I feel like someone infected by Akaja - I'm making decisions based on the adventures of fictional characters. :o
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Pledge upped! We're getting close... Best of luck :)
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Thanks guys! Only 3K or so away!
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Closer to two thousand now; and this is before the 48 hour rush.
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Saw Caleb Stokes and instantly upped my pledge. I really hope you'll reach 80k.
Nice, the Dollar has dropped (or already was low) so I'll pop $90.
The aggressive devaluing of the Yen has done all kind of strange things to the dollar exchange rate against a breadbasket of currencies.
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yeah, I think it's safe to say we're going to eclipse that goal.
YYYEEAAAAHHHHHH
8)
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4 days left and only about $1500 to go!
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3 days a less than $1000. All the fish are jumping into the boat.
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Just pledged to hit $80K. The only reason my wife authorized the purchase of a completely unnecessary USB drive with a bunch of content you can get online for free is because my birthday's next month. 8)
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Achievement unlocked!
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Sick, 80k exactly. Congrats, Caleb! Can't wait too see what you unleash on us.
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpE6uMJ37dk/UOScrne47aI/AAAAAAAAEL4/Ki-4IWO-SoY/s1600/ron-paul.gif)
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Thank you for all the help guys! I really appreciate it!
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Thank you for all the help guys! I really appreciate it!
No, sir. Thank YOU!
Thank you for writing the adventures that keep us on the edge of our seats, that pull us into your own personal world. Thank you for making us love you and hate you simultaneously, for triggering the emotional response that walks the razor's edge between hugging and hitting. Thank you for Augustine, thank you for Manjappa, and thank you for Warden.
For all of that, how can we NOT support the chance to share your genius with everyone?
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This Kickstarter thing is not fair at all! I installed Steam of my own free will; at least when it comes knocked, crack dealer-like, upon my monitor, I know what I signed up for.
But you, Caleb! You came storming in with your brilliance and your Kickstarters without so much as a By your leave. I love you for it, you mad bastard, but I was going to use that money for things. Important things, like... things! And stuff. And... ah, the hell with it. Here, take the money, do anything (http://"http://xkcd.com/968/").
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Congrats!
I can't count the number of times I refreshed the kickstarter page Saturday and Sunday just watching that number tick up. I was more excited than I should have been, having no direct involvement. I hope it works out for everyone on the business side, because us fans just cashed in huge!
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Congratulations are in order. I hope Caleb is able to hoist a beverage of his choice to his (hopefully) speedy status change to published author.
Just don't let Ross give you that drink. I fear he may be driven mad by no longer being the only author and we all know how crafty and devious he can be.
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Fun fact: Ross also wrote stuff for this book already. 8)
"Warning: The killer who is about to call you is already inside the house."
Congratulations guys! Hoping that they manage to go the distance and include FATE conversion rules as well, that'd be swell.
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Is the new scenario going to be part of Transhuman or it's own thing? I understood that Ross and Caleb had both done some work for Transhuman but was operating under the assumption this stretch goal for the scenario was for something outside Transhuman. Looking back I realize I have no basis for this belief other than a desire for it to be true.
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The scenario will be a stand alone PDF release that could double as a prequel for someone hoping to run Know Evil. Or that is at least what we've discussed so far.
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All we know about the adventure is that it is not actually Know Evil proper, and that it will feature Caleb and possibly other RPPR dudes' writing. It may be a proof-of-concept to see if there is an audience for Know Evil large enough to warrant its' own project down the road, this is unclear.
Edit: Damn it Caleb *shakes fist*
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It will definitely feature space whales
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It will definitely feature space whales
Better not... I was told to stop people before they space whale again!
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It will definitely feature space whales
Better not... I was told to stop people before they space whale tail again!
Fixed that for you.
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Better not... I was told to stop people before they avail to space whale tail again!
Fixed that for you.
Fixed that fixed for you.
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It will definitely feature space whales
Better not... I was told to stop people before they space whale tale again!
Fixed that for you.
Fixed it back
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It will definitely feature space whales
Better not... I was told to stop people before help I'm trapped in a space whale factory!
Fixed that for you.
Fixed it back
Space whales space whales space whales.
So how about Eclipse Phase FATE Edition? I'm excited, I've done a lot of investing in FATE stuff over the last few months and now I'm laying a shitload down for this kickstarter. Looking forward to trying out the Stoked adventure as well. I trust there will be a conversation between you and Posthuman about a potential Know Evil campaign book in the near future. ;D
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I'm so changing my log on to XxXSpaceWhalezXxX.
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I'm so changing my log on to XxXSpaceWhalezXxX.
it has begun
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Caleb, in the stretch goal adventure, will the villian be a space whale?
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Caleb, in the stretch goal adventure, will the villian be a space whale?
I am putting my money on the whole scenario turning out to be the dream of a space whale. That seems like Caleb all the way.
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If the adventure features a whale I demand it also features a bowl of petunias >:(
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If the adventure features a whale I demand it also features a bowl of petunias >:(
"Oh, no, not again."
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I am putting my money on the whole scenario turning out to be the dream of a space whale. That seems like Caleb all the way.
The dream of a deathtrap seems more his style.
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Caleb, in the stretch goal adventure, will the villian be a space whale?
Pretty sure this is how the ending goes:
(http://i.imgur.com/uFK6MtN.png)
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Pretty sure this is how the ending goes:
(http://i.imgur.com/uFK6MtN.png)
[/quote]
Not one to normally fall to the conventions of modern life but there needs to be a like button for the likes of this. Or at least a t-shirt.
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Know evil could be the Masks of Nyarlethotep of Eclipse Phase!
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http://oglaf.com/caveat-emptor/
I'm just going to beat everyone to the punch and put this here.
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Caleb...
I just ran across this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis . And now I'm wondering. How much dam work did you put into googling keywords from your players background in Know Evil? I'm having a hard time believing that you actually found a random evolutionary hypothesis and made it fit into a PCs background. Dam! I'm starting to see why Know Evil worked so well. You put some serious time into this thing. I tip my hat to you, sir.
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http://oglaf.com/caveat-emptor/
I'm just going to beat everyone to the punch and put this here.
Clicked on that link at work before realizing it was to Oglaf.
I take it that this is an example of your love for building clever death traps.
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Caleb...
I just ran across this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis . And now I'm wondering. How much dam work did you put into googling keywords from your players background in Know Evil? I'm having a hard time believing that you actually found a random evolutionary hypothesis and made it fit into a PCs background. Dam! I'm starting to see why Know Evil worked so well. You put some serious time into this thing. I tip my hat to you, sir.
I told him about the Red Queen Hypothesis. Part of my research for Bartleby.
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Caleb...
I just ran across this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis . And now I'm wondering. How much dam work did you put into googling keywords from your players background in Know Evil? I'm having a hard time believing that you actually found a random evolutionary hypothesis and made it fit into a PCs background. Dam! I'm starting to see why Know Evil worked so well. You put some serious time into this thing. I tip my hat to you, sir.
I told him about the Red Queen Hypothesis. Part of my research for Bartleby.
Ok...I actually feel better about that.
Two people's worth of awesome in a single person is intimidating. Now he's just a mere mortal again.
Cool idea for the red queen by the way. Weary EP.
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I finally took the plunge and started a twitter @HebanonGCal. Help me out by following me so I can keep in touch with y'all; I only know forum handles.
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Crap. Now there might actually be something on twitter that I care to follow. I've successfully avoided it for so long...
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Crap. Now there might actually be something on twitter that I care to follow. I've successfully avoided it for so long...
:'(
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Great, you've made the monster cry. Good job. ;)
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Careful, those are tattooed tears. One for every man he has killed. Well for every PC he has killed.
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Man that's a lot of tear. wouldn't the skin of his cheeks and under his eyes just be big solid black strips going down?
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(http://i.imgur.com/AjOaQDx.gif)
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:o
Thank you Ross, I nearly leaped off my chair when this popped up.
-
:o
Thank you Ross, I nearly leaped off my chair when this popped up.
(http://i.imgur.com/LFVsG.gif)
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Ran Lover in the Ice for some people on Sunday. Was running long so sort of squashed the big confrontation into the house with the students instead of the dorm/high school ending.
Everyone had a good time although there was a few comments from the players alone the lines of, "this is pretty disturbing and you backed this as a kickstater, what is wrong with you?" Could not resist having one PC get force fed a seeder organ by the Amanta which drove the player insane. The action did put the Amanta in the line of fire of the other players and they made quickish work of it. They are suppose to be smarter than that but was trying to wrap up the game and so used a bit of GM fiat.
We used COC and I could not resist running the Green Box variant as outlined in the original pod cast. The scene of the players working through the boxes they know are basically live hand grenades was too good to pass up. I did sprinkle some boxes that contained elements from two games I am working on, not that these will be connected but so the players will recognize them when they play them in the future.
Another good scenario from Caleb and well worth the backing on kickstarter.
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I'm glad your group had fun! Sorry if they think you're a perv now :o
I get a lot of comments like that about Lover in the Ice (disturbing etc). I don't think they're unfounded criticisms, but I'm not sure I entirely understand them. I think that probably is for another thread though.
Anyway, thanks a lot for playing the game. I hope you enjoy the other stuff as it comes out.
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Honestly, if someone criticizes CoC for being disturbing, they want to play another game.
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Caleb Stokes: an advocate bugging girls' panties.
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One of my great regrets is that I could not back the kickstarter. Also I think this discussion has produced yet another good answer as to why Caleb would not want his face associated with his scenarios.
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As I am sure is clear to everyone the core of Lover has quite a bit of sexual violence in it which is closer to peoples actual fears than the the cosmic or pulpy horror you get in a lot of COC games. Take Bryson Springs for example. When I ran that I had a character pulled off into space by one of the fishers. No fun but of course not real while what occurs in Lover maybe just too close to reality for some people.
I will say I was thinking of inviting a female friend who I know plays COC but I had not personally played with before to play in the game but ultimately decided against it. I think she will be a very good player and the guys I normally play with are pretty mature but it just seemed like there was a possibility that everyone could get very uncomfortable and I just did chickened out and decided I was not going to extend the invite. I sort of regret that actually but it just seemed like a bit step for the first game with a number of folks she did not know.
I do think it is a very well written scenario and not gratuitous but it is by its very nature going to be a lot more disturbing to most folks than Calebs other work.
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I do think it is a very well written scenario and not gratuitous but it is by its very nature going to be a lot more disturbing to most folks than Calebs other work.
Thanks, Tim. And I do think that is a very valid point. Being held down and violated by something is a far more primal fear than the Fisher of Men. Though I would argue that that there is a cosmic horror element to Lover in the Ice (Characters exist in a universe that would allow such a creature as the Amante to exist...eww), I'd agree it's definitely not the main focus. I think not inviting your friend without knowing more about her as a player was a good idea, but I'd like to think the same would be true for male roleplayers as well. I hope Hebanon has other stuff out there you can use with your newer players.
I suppose what I'm commenting on here and in this thread (http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php/topic,1718.msg38415.html#msg38415) is that its weird where that "too close to home" line is placed. I find people get a lot more uncomfortable about the sex thing than say, the risk of being attacked by an animal, even though the latter can happen in the real world as well. I mean, as a person who has had close relatives that suffer from some of the disorders that can be rolled for in a CoC sanity table, I can attest there is nothing adventurous or fun about schizophrenia. The possibility of mental illness is also a very real, very scary real world proposition, yet I hear very few people complain about sanity mechanics in games, even when the very offensive "you see a shoggath so now you have a debilitating genetic brain disorder" situations come up. Its usually just recognized as Horror fiction is intended: a safe place to work through otherwise uncomfortable subject matter. But the sex stuff always seems to bump up closer to that limit despite, in my opinion, having equal competition in terms of relatable real-world fears.
Anyway Tim, thanks again for running the game and your comments. It's given me something that's useful to think about.
Caleb Stokes: an advocate bugging girls' panties.
False. For the record, the character of Haru Kano is an advocate of doing what is necessary to get the job done. His antics have only just begun. In addition, he technically bugged a man's pair of panties.
One of my great regrets is that I could not back the kickstarter. Also I think this discussion has produced yet another good answer as to why Caleb would not want his face associated with his scenarios.
Exactly. I'm not ashamed of anything I've done with RPPR (quite the opposite), but this is a policy I won't see changing in the future. I don't think anybody that puts out as much unfiltered content as RPPR is going to make a run for public office anytime soon.
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Lover to me (and this may just be the way I read it/ran it) seems more akin to a survival horror game than cosmic horror. Most of this hinges on the fact that the entities have very real world and knowable motivations but also some of the trapped in a box nature of the game. The cosmic elements in Byrson Springs are a lot clearer to me. The Fisher is essentially unknowable and beyond comprehension. This maybe my narrow view of what separated cosmic from survival horror but it is my general rule of thumbs.
One of the ways to establish horror is to transgress on taboos. This is both societal taboos and personal taboos. I think you can sort of gauge if a work is going to disturb people based on the your understanding of the society/culture but how it will effect each person, where they will draw the line that it is too much, is highly individual and so I think it is difficult to know that when you release the work into the public. As a personal example I recently had a friend end his own life and so now I think I would be much more deeply effected or pushed over that line but the use of suicide. Not the 'save the last bullet for yourself' suicide but if a scenario hinged on an entity that slow drove someone mad while all those around him did not know it was going on till the person ended their life I think I could find that hitting too close to home when a year ago it would not have bothered me nearly as much or not at all.
Your own examples of your connection to mental illness is going to prime you for that while fortunately for many, including myself, it is not something we have a lot of experience with so not a fear that is really concrete. I do fear losing my mind of course but to actual witness it up close to people you care about is going to draw that line for you differently.
In the case of sexual violence given the truly terrible statistics even though I personal don't 'know' anyone who has been through that I actually do know a number of people who have who have just not told me about it. That for me at least does make that quite concrete and does push it into the real fears camp.
What I did note about my players reactions was that they were less freaked out by the Amanta trying to implant a seeder then by their confrontation with Skip. The scene ended up playing out quite a lot like the podcast where they caught him at home but had a man around back with a gun. When Skip bolted out the back there was a stand off and Skips reaction to the gun and the violence was something that creeped everyone at the table out.
The above makes me think that while the Amanta is creepy it is the seeders and their actions that drive a lot of the horror, at least for people at my table.
I don't think you wrote a Saw knock off where you were being shocking to be shocking. The story is a solid one and while it deals with some disturbing shit it is not needlessly gratuitous. Perhaps others mileage may vary but over all I found it satisfying to run.
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Did the Hebanon games website just get hacked?
All it says is "site is in the process of returning data" in Bosnian. (sajt je u fazi vracanja podataka)
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I don't know. Thanks for the head up though.
I can get access to Wordpress just fine. All my files are there, and the security package I downloaded after the last hack hasn't recorded any changes. But no matter what I do, I can't get anything except that stupid Bosnian to show up.
My current theory is that something is going on with my webhosting, so I've emailed tech support. I guess we will wait and see.
Man, I knew running a website would be complicated, but in all the steps of this Kickstarter process that is the one that has baffled me the most. I almost spend more time trying to get the damn website to work than I do writing the scenarios.
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I'm sure there's a proverb about Rome and it's roads in this somewhere.
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"All optical fibre leads to Sarajevo" ?
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I was thinking more like how long Romans spent on their roads versus the total time of the Empire.
This time the tech guys (I am NOT one of them, obviously) say that the malware was installed over the course of months before it was activated, some of it even hidden within the security plugin we installed after the first hack. This means that all of our database backups are corrupted going as far back as the release of The Fall Without End.
I think it's a humorous coincidence for this to happened to guy who created "Know Evil". It's almost a cruel irony.
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Its back!
Sweet merciful god its back!
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Looks like it's down again. I was proactive enough this time to copy-paste the blogs' innards onto my computer, in case you didn't manage to save them. Sad to see brilliant writing go to waste. Edit: Never mind, it's alive again!
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The "back" is an illusion. They rolled back a version, but in updating the security settings Ross and I managed to completely lock ourselves out of the system. The hosting service has no idea how to fix it yet. And we'd yet to delete all the malware before we got locked out.
Yeah...fun times over here in Caleb land.
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Was troubleshooting and recovering a hacked website not in the job description the high school guidance councilor showed you after your tests showed you possessed a high aptitude for freelance game design? If not they really need to update those skill lists.
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Yeah...fun times over here in Caleb land.
I really want to make some theme park jokes but I can't get any good ones to work. I do know the main attraction would need to be "The Death Traps" 'Death trap' is singular and therefore inaccurate'.
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Yeah...fun times over here in Caleb land.
I really want to make some theme park jokes but I can't get any good ones to work. I do know the main attraction would need to be "The Death Traps" 'Death trap' is singular and therefore inaccurate'.
It's a rollercoaster that kills 90% of the people riding it, but the other 10% say it's SENSATIONAL!
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¡El Matadors! EVIL twinbrother
¡The masked Matador!
(http://i.imgur.com/DO4zvfa.jpg)
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Evil Twin nothing. That's El Matador's morally equivalent twin.
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Everything I know about being a man I learned from El Matador.
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Everything I know about being a man I learned from El Matador.
And knowing El Matador! You learned some things about being his woman as well.
;-)
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El Matador is like David Bowie. He is desirable regardless of gender.
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El Matador is the father of the World's Most Interesting Man.
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Not to still the thunder away from El Matador (as if such a thing were possible)...
Those that missed out on the No Security Kickstarter and still want to pick up a copy of Lover in the Ice can now buy it on DriveThru RPG or RPGNow for $1.99. I finally managed to get the account working today. All of the other Hebanon Games scenarios are available too for the same low, low price of free.
Feel free to check it out, and if you're kind enough to write a review I'll be eternally grateful. I might even write nice things about you on the internet.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=5698
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Hebanon Games is moving to a Pay What You Want model. Read about our reasoning and more updates: http://tinyurl.com/ma6f6b2
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"A Cult of Two" is the creepiest thing I've read in a while. Well done, sir. Well done.
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Thanks!
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After Caleb's musing on investigation game structure at his site (sadly the post seems to have been lost to the great eastern european hackfest of July 2013) I am thinking I want to flow chart out my next game. I am going to start on paper but does anyone have a good suggestion for a good online tool to create and store it? It seems like Caleb used Prezi for the Eclipse Phase flow chart. Poking around on the site it does seem more like an online presentation tool and while it clearly can work I am not 100% sure it is the way I want to go so thought I would reach out to the vast internet brain and see what comes back.
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I use LucidChart. I paid for an account because I use it so often, but you can make a chart with up to 30 items and connections for free.
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Revelations, the newest release in the No Security ransom, is finally ready for download. Go check it out. I'd be very eager to hear what everyone thinks and how play-thru went.
http://hebanongames.com/no-security-revelations-pdf/
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Seems like every other page is marked "The Fall Without End" (top bar). While not in the way, I thought I'd point it out.
Looks great anyway, and I'll run it when my group gives in to playing some CoC.
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Holy shit! Thanks.
Proofreading Error on my part. Damn. I'll get that corrected and re-uploaded soon.
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Alright, header is fixed.
Jesus, getting this shit ready for print is going to be a nightmare...
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"Though it should be noted that black as a color and concept is also erased."
This may be the most perfect line I have seen in a long time.
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Ran revelations for my group a while back, when it was released in draft format. They really loved it. Two things in particular hit them pretty hard, the confrontation in the grocer's in act two and the late game messages from Winifred almost had them locking themselves in the police station until the apocalypse.
In the end, they were almost completely divided, with one player stealing both the sword and the arrows and proceeding to drive headlong over the edge when he critically failed two drive checks on his way out of town.
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I'm not sure if you were aware of this but another RP podcast, "Fist Full of Misanthropes" is running the "No Security" games. They just posted their run of "Revelations".
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-fistful-of-misanthropes/id400112025
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Caleb, you mentioned trying something lighter. Have you considered playing or running Monster of the Week or Monsterheart? They very buffy/supernatural centered games set in high schools. While they have some combat they're very much a narrative game, where people riff of one another, sort of in the vein if the Quiet Year. The guy who made quiet year made Monsterheart, which is really a hack of apocalypse world, much like monster of the
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Still waiting for Caleb to run the beat poet game he promised where the players drive back and forth across the country and drink and fornicate and right free verse.
Ok maybe he did not promise it but he knows in his heart of hearts it would be epic.
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Still waiting for Caleb to run the beat poet game he promised where the players drive back and forth across the country and drink and fornicate and right free verse.
Ok maybe he did not promise it but he knows in his heart of hearts it would be epic.
I realize this is probably a typo, but I love the idea that their goal is to correct free verse. Fucken Kerouac.
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Still waiting for Caleb to run the beat poet game he promised where the players drive back and forth across the country and drink and fornicate and right free verse.
Ok maybe he did not promise it but he knows in his heart of hearts it would be epic.
I realize this is probably a typo, but I love the idea that their goal is to correct free verse. Fucken Kerouac.
I wish I were clever enough to take credit for that. Does a word exist for a written error that in unintentionally better than what was originally intended?
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Still waiting for Caleb to run the beat poet game he promised where the players drive back and forth across the country and drink and fornicate and right free verse.
Ok maybe he did not promise it but he knows in his heart of hearts it would be epic.
I realize this is probably a typo, but I love the idea that their goal is to correct free verse. Fucken Kerouac.
I wish I were clever enough to take credit for that. Does a word exist for a written error that in unintentionally better than what was originally intended?
ser·en·dip·i·ty
noun \ˌser-ən-ˈdi-pə-tē\
: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also : an instance of this
I think it falls under this. :)
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Did Caleb ever post his rules for drugs in Call of Cthulhu? If so, where?I'd like to check those out for some sessions?
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Did Caleb ever post his rules for drugs in Call of Cthulhu? If so, where?I'd like to check those out for some sessions?
I honestly don't know if he even can. He doesn't have licensing from Arc Dream or The Chaosium.
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Did Caleb ever post his rules for drugs in Call of Cthulhu? If so, where?I'd like to check those out for some sessions?
I honestly don't know if he even can. He doesn't have licensing from Arc Dream or The Chaosium.
It might go in an issue of the Oath. By the way, you should get the newest issue of the Oath. The scenario in it is baller as hell.
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Which scenario is that?
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Will have to check my pdf copy, while I wait for the printed version.
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Which scenario is that?
the one by Mr. Glancy
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Oh man, Cold Dead Hand? The Russian one? Yeah we were in on the playtest for that. that scenario is madness
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Sounds like a bag of fun times!
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I ran a playtest of it as well. My players loved it. They got to run away from a raging big bad.
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http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ede3/
What Caleb's laptop looks like.
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I ran Revelations for the Drunk and Ugly group; it just went up to today, and it's pretty fantastic. http://drunkandugly.com/2013/08/26/call-of-cthulu-revelations/
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An abandoned stretch of elevated road from the 60s, in the middle of the Brazilian jungle.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/viaduct-petrobras
They say they abandoned it because plans altered at the last minute...But we know better.
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We also interview Caleb about revelations and game design. It's a pretty rad interview. http://drunkandugly.com/2013/08/28/interview-with-caleb-stokes-of-hebanon-games/
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For the record, few things are as creepy as hearing about the "darkness between the stars" of Akaja's intro as you drive across the Midwest under the cold, distant stars above and lightning storms in the distance.
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The RPPR Game Designer's Podcast, the new podcast by Ross and I, is now posted.
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2013/09/game-designer-workshop/game-designer-workshop-episode-1-concept/?fb_source=pubv1
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I'm not sure if you were aware of this but another RP podcast, "Fist Full of Misanthropes" is running the "No Security" games. They just posted their run of "Revelations".
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-fistful-of-misanthropes/id400112025
(Without invoking any wrath respectfully) God-Damn! That was a hilarious and freaky time you guys went through, enjoyed the whole ordeal, you guys have a new subscriber and listener to your podcast.
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The RPPR Game Designer's Podcast, the new podcast by Ross and I, is now posted.
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2013/09/game-designer-workshop/game-designer-workshop-episode-1-concept/?fb_source=pubv1
I might look foreword to this more than I look foreword to the main podcast now.
I've been wanting to make a source book for Pathfinder for a long time now, I am just kinda stuck on the whole getting art and layout thing. It'll be nice to see what you go through... how much it ends up costing and all that.
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Operation Black Dolphin. It was worth the wait.
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Operation Black Dolphin. It was worth the wait.
yes it was.
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The RPPR Game Designer's Podcast, the new podcast by Ross and I, is now posted.
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2013/09/game-designer-workshop/game-designer-workshop-episode-1-concept/?fb_source=pubv1
One thing I couldn't shake while listening to this was that Joel, Tess, Bill and Frank from The Last of Us would be PCs in Red Market. A pair of smugglers and a couple scavengers rooting through the dead world to scavenge supplies to sell to survivors. Am I wrong about that?
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http://031183.blogspot.com/2011/07/women-of-dread-carcosa-raquel-welch.html
So Carcosa has a pin up calender?
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The Wives of March...I just...you...
...
...
...
Magnificent.
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Hey,
Just listened to the Wives of March conclusion and loved it. ^_^
I thought about it and it seemed like so soon after the podcast had been put up people might want some kind of spoiler buffer, I hope this is ok.
[spoiler]It really made me wonder if in a longer campaign whether one of the by now probably quite jaded and bitter companions might consider feeding information to an outsider in the hopes that they might bring about their deaths earlier if they were able to wipe out the 'shoggoth' thing birthing them all when they die. The self destructive element could be a double edged blade for a player character making use of this help though, I mean if you're really really old, angry and crazy and all you've got to choose between is dying in the next ten years and dying in the next thousand years maybe this means you don't help them to the best of your abilities because you don't really expect them to succeed. Possibly you send potential 'rescuers' in to harms way unprepared but you know they won't stop trying seeing as how you've clued them in on the future of humanity being at stake. The sappy part of me also envisions a dramatic anime ending where there is only one pair of companions left and after tearfully reuniting one last time they turn into sparkling light when the last 'shoggoth' is murderised, finally released from their endless torture and in the knowledge that it didn't cost them all of humanity into the bargain. It's only slightly off tone for the scenario. :P
But seriously, I did in addition to being horrified by it all feel genuinely bad for the companions. It kind of reminded me of Tithonus and how his lover? wife? Eos asks Zeus to grant him immortality but forgets to ask for eternal youth and so Tithonus ages away forever, apparently turning into a cicada and still living on only begging for death. I guess that's a more passive version of this though. The lessons being, contracts with meticulously read fine print are a must have when negotiating your own immortality.[/spoiler]
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Thanks for all the love guys!
The Wives of March PDF is available for download!
http://tinyurl.com/mm568yo
It's Pay What You Want, so please consider leaving something in the hat if you can spare it. I hope everyone enjoys playing through it with their own groups!
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Wives of March is pretty awesomely creepy. I'm going to use the Companions in one of my upcoming World of Darkness sessions. Should throw the players off considerably.
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Was practicing a new illustration style (trying for a Mignola look). And drew up the Companions in the process. Decided to make something a little more of it.
(http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2013/308/3/3/fa___cult_of_two_by_crazon-d6t1smb.jpg)
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For the record, few things are as creepy as hearing about the "darkness between the stars" of Akaja's intro as you drive across the Midwest under the cold, distant stars above and lightning storms in the distance.
From Nyarlathotep, by HP Lovecraft, which I just happened to read last night:
A sense of monstrous guilt was upon the land, and out of the abysses between the stars swept chill currents that made men shiver in dark and lonely places.
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I'm not sure if you were aware of this but another RP podcast, "Fist Full of Misanthropes" is running the "No Security" games. They just posted their run of "Revelations".
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-fistful-of-misanthropes/id400112025
(Without invoking any wrath respectfully) God-Damn! That was a hilarious and freaky time you guys went through, enjoyed the whole ordeal, you guys have a new subscriber and listener to your podcast.
Oh jeez, thank you! I'm Noah, the Sheriff PC who accidentally skips A LOT of the plot, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it! We've done all of Caleb's scenario's and enjoyed all of them tremendously! Thanks again!
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Were you the guy who skipped directly to the end scenario by accident?
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Caleb is my second favorite Russian officer ever. Maybe my first; I'm only halfway through Cold Dead Hands.
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Were you the guy who skipped directly to the end scenario by accident?
Yeah. Dunno how spoiler heavy we want to get, but yeah, I just got that idea stuck in my head and turns out I went straight to the end-game, pretty much. *shrug* But I do hope everybody enjoyed it!
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I've been waiting to see the circumstances of the story of Cold Dead Hands for months now, ever since it was mentioned in the podcast. It was as funny as I imagined.
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Were you the guy who skipped directly to the end scenario by accident?
Yeah. Dunno how spoiler heavy we want to get, but yeah, I just got that idea stuck in my head and turns out I went straight to the end-game, pretty much. *shrug* But I do hope everybody enjoyed it!
It wasn't spoilery at all. The scenario is designed to be a confusing sandbox with no explicit "go here" plot. That you walked to the endgame immediately didn't ruin anything, it just emphasized the dominant "shit is crazy" theme that Caleb wrote in.
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Just ran Vengeful Dead out of Bumps in the Night. None of the three players had ever played CoC before. One of them has only been role-playing for a month. One of the pregens I made was Lord Bigglesworth. He was picked of course and the player would have made you proud Caleb. He actually got to use a cavalry saber and a Webley revolver on the revenants while completely cool and British in the crisis.
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I am reminded of Professor White from Bayou Beatdown.
(http://i.imgur.com/xtS31vQ.jpg)
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Ran Fall Without End in Call of Cthulhu this evening, and one of my players did an amazing thing.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
So I had three teams, dubbed Team God, Team Hobo, and Team Writer. Team Hobo was made up of out-of-work, depression-affected alpiners. Team Writer was a pair of intrepid journalists. And Team God was a pair of priests trying to win fame for their church.
Team God heads right for Peter's Glacier, wanting to make use of their solid climb and dex skills and get to Wickersham's Wall as quickly as possible, while both Team Writer and Team Hobo head for Knife's Ridge, intending to make their way to the Overhang.
So, both Team Writer and Hobo run into the poor P. Hutchinson brother, injured and raving, coming down the path. They call out to him, he panics and goes nuts, and nearly falls off the path trying to strike out at his attackers. The PCs haul him back up and sit on him, trying and failing to persuade him to calm down. Finally Hannah, playing the Belay man of Team Hobo, punches Hutchinson in the mouth and knocks him out cold.
So they're sitting there, trying to decide what to do with him. Nobody wants to have to lose time by dragging him back, and they don't want to leave him to die of exposure.
So they decide to do rock/paper/scissors to see which team has to carry him back. Now, this was a game run over Skype, so the participants are sending me PMs with their rock or paper or scissor decisions.
One of the players from Team Writer wins the first round, and Hannah, from Team Hobo, calls for best 2 out of 3. So alright, they choose to throw again.
The guy from team writer sends me "paper."
And Hannah sends me the following:
"Robert will throw rock. Heavily to the injured man's face so that he will die unconscious in the snow.
he will not suffer
15/75"
She fuckin' impales her hobo murder check. And then I read it aloud. All of this before they even rolled a single climbing check.
PCs are amazing.
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Damn! Your players make the Vertiginous Horrors look downright sympathetic. Worms gotta eat, right? But those humans are cold-blooded.
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I made a Thread about No Security on the official german Call of Cthulhu forums, let's hope some people look into it and maybe buy a book or two.
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Oh wow! Thank you so much for plugging the book!
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So Greg Stolze's in talks with John Nephew and John Tynes about rebooting Unknown Armies for 2015 and he's asked for suggestions about what people want to see in it and who should write for it. I'm about to suggest you, Caleb: I think you've got the tone down based on Revelations.
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Thanks! I've already recommended myself as hard as I possibly can to Greg personally. I would fight someone much bigger than me and win if it meant I got to work on that book.
BTW my next RPG books is going to be called Freelance Gladiator.
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Oh man, please tell me it has fight promotion mechanics.
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Oh man, please tell me it has fight promotion mechanics.
"It's gonna be 'Hungry Joe Johnson' against 'Major Murrphy "Mayhem" McCormick, English'! Their gonna be in there kill'emselves for a taste of that sweet, sweet 300-page prize. This is gonna be the most splendiferus, mounmentagulus, and theasuricalogical bout of all time. Of all time! There is gonna be commas and footnotes mixed with the blood and the sand."
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I just wanted to say two things really quickly. Well, as quickly as you can read them, anyway. So here's the thing(s);
1) I'm responsible for my friends (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-fistful-of-misanthropes/id400112025?mt=2) using "Stokesian" as a household adjective to describe Procedural Death Labyrinth architecture.
2) I had a really sweet character concept for Red Markets that I was going to post to the alpha thread, but Ross took AN ENTIRE MONTH to accept my forum application, so it's gone forever now. DREAM OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
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Well, he is a horrible monster.
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Having just finished re-listening to Know Evil, I'd like to give Caleb another round of applause for that entire campaign. Great storytelling, fantastic horror, plenty of amazing character and roleplaying moments and an immensely satisfying conclusion. Bravo, sir.
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Thanks!
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Ran part of Revelations last night with my group... they have some words for you Caleb.
"Caleb, I don't know you, and I'm certain you don't know me, but Thank You!"
- Nathan (In regards to putting the tree of life in the game... 12 pieces of 1-up... really? I thought this was a deathtrap game? lol)
It should be noted that as they were picking the fruit, I summoned the Bears on them. They escaped, but "bearly"... XD
Also I may or may not have made NPC Police officers Deputy Tom Church and Deputy Ross Payton. Payton was impaled and head combusted by the demonic child. Not planned, I just wanted the kid to have a nice entrance to the scene and Payton was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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:'(
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Strangely, not the first time that Ross has met a messy end in that scenario. Remember when Cody played as him?
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Drew played as me, not Cody.
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Oh god! I got an RPPR fact wrong... the dishonor...
Hmm, apparently I don't remember that AP as well as I thought.
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Not gonna lie, that is a personal AP favorite and I did have that in mind when we started the game. There was a thought that crossed my mind during the game that Deputy Payton, upon meeting the investigators just spouts out "What am I doing in Toil?"
And then after the game I realized I had a missed oppurtunity for Deputy Payton to call in Deputy Church and shout in a panic as hell was breaking loose "THERE ARE MONSTERS IN THE SCHOOL TOM! REPEAT, MONSTERS IN THE SCHOOL!!! OVER?"
Sadly a missed opportunity.
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Drew played as me, not Cody.
I did not listen to Revelations so apologize if this actually occurred but was/is there a game where all the RPPR crew played as one of the other character game personas? On the surface there is a 36% chance of a fist fight occurring but listening to Caleb playing Aaron or Aaron Playing Tom or Ross playing David seems like a chance for pure comedy gold.
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No, they were playing Cthulhu Dark and everybody but Ross died alot. I think Tom went through four characters, several of whom went over the edge of the world. I think for Drew's third or fourth character he decided to play "local published author Ross Payton". It... didn't go great for fictional Ross.
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He technically didn't die though in that game, was just badly injured.
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True but [spoiler]he didn't die because the world reset itself. He was going to bleed out of the hole in his side becaue the woman he created did not have first aid in mind.[/spoiler]
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I just put in another I'm-sure-you've-already-talked-to-him-about-it-but-for-serious-you-should-get-Caleb +1 on that Unknown Armies thread Greg started over on forum.rpg.net! Because seriously. The sooner we can get Caleb on postmodern corebooks the better it'll be for all concerned.
Although of course this would mandate that you start running UA for the podcast. There'd be no other option. Your art would require it.
definitely don't have an agenda here
(make Tom play a dipsomancer)
(oh man make Aaron play a pornomancer)
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Hey Caleb,
Have you ever read Thomas Ligotti? S. T. Joshi considers him one of Lovecraft's heirs and he is fantastic.
I ask specifically because I am working through Teatro Grottesco and one of Ligotti's short stories is "The Red Tower" which is superficially similar to your adventure "The Red Tower".
Did Ligotti inspire you or is this one of those strange coincidences of convergent evolution?
Even though Ligotti's "The Red Tower"...deals with a different topic I could see the story used wholecloth as a journal written by someone exposed to the horror within your "The Red Tower".
Edit: Ross if you are looking for inspiration for another Carcosa game, I couldn't recommend Teatro Grottesco more, specifically "The Town Manager" and "The Red Tower".
Edit 2:Have you guys talked about True Detective on one of your podcasts yet?
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The most recent RPPR and on the Unspeakable podcast they've talked about True Detective, though not in extreme detail.
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TD is a great show, cannot wait for 2nd season. I hope there's a CoC or Dirty World game based on it, or something.
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Hey Caleb,
Have you ever read Thomas Ligotti? S. T. Joshi considers him one of Lovecraft's heirs and he is fantastic.
I ask specifically because I am working through Teatro Grottesco and one of Ligotti's short stories is "The Red Tower" which is superficially similar to your adventure "The Red Tower".
Yeah! I love Teatro Grottesco! I actually give it a shout-out in the first RPPR episode in which I appear. And yes, The Red Tower was inspired by The Red Tower. The description of the final level is what I imagine the inside of Chambliss looks like after he's made his transformation.
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Where can I find information on the Skype game ran as part of the $100 reward from the No Security Kickstarter? Will there be a similar reward in the next kickstarter?
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Where can I find information on the Skype game ran as part of the $100 reward from the No Security Kickstarter? Will there be a similar reward in the next kickstarter?
There are two actual plays posted:
http://drunkandugly.com/2012/09/21/call-of-cthulu-lover-before-the-ice/
and
http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com/2013/06/systems/call-of-cthulhu/call-of-cthulhu-danger-roadwork-ahead/
And yes, I'll definitely be offering online games for the next KS (though I am probably going to switch to the far superior Google hangouts)
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If you backed the Transhuman Kickstarer at the PDF rewards level, the adventure I wrote, The Devotees, is available for download today. Check it out and tell me what you think!
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Had a look through it. Two thoughts came to mind.
Why had i not realised the vodoo connection with Legba and Nine Lives?
When will RPPR release recordings of the playtest?
The adventure looks good.
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Hey, just thought I'd add to Caleb's announcement, for all of those who missed out on the Transhuman Kickstarter, The Devotees will be available on DriveThruRPG on April 23! (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/coming_product_info.php?products_id=126321)
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Yeah! I love Teatro Grottesco! I actually give it a shout-out in the first RPPR episode in which I appear. And yes, The Red Tower was inspired by The Red Tower. The description of the final level is what I imagine the inside of Chambliss looks like after he's made his transformation.
Ah! I'm late to the party then.
Thanks for the reply.
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yeah, I read Ligotti because of Caleb's recommendations back in the No Security era and love-hated him the same way I do Lovecraft originals. great ideas, fucknoxious prose. I laughed and laughed and laughed when Matthew McConaughey went on an anti-natalist rant in True Detective that could've been lifted straight from a Ligotti interview except that the dialogue sounded like it might've been spoken by a human.
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On the topic of reading recommendations, are there any must-reads for getting an understanding of espionage techniques/developing planning abilities for realistic espionage?
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Well a classic from the Cold War era is Dulles' The Craft of Intelligence.
By itself it won't give you the modern SIGINT details and what-have-you but it is pretty fundamental for a lot of core issues.
I'm sure there has to be some good recommendations in Night's Black Agents for further reading on this topic.
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On the topic of reading recommendations, are there any must-reads for getting an understanding of espionage techniques/developing planning abilities for realistic espionage?
It's called "listening to Caleb and doing as he does".
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On the topic of reading recommendations, are there any must-reads for getting an understanding of espionage techniques/developing planning abilities for realistic espionage?
It's called "listening to Caleb and doing as he does".
But... aping Caleb isn't at all what Caleb is doing? or *head explodes*
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Hey, I wrote this.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/126321/Eclipse-Phase-The-Devotees?term=the+devotees
If you would like to help me get more writing work in the EP universe, it would be good to buy. Plus, it's a solid 2-3 nights of tranhuman espionage gaming for $10.00, so it's good value for your money.
The playtest of the scenario should be posted in the next few days.
Thanks!
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If you would like to help me get more writing work in the EP universe, it would be good to buy. Plus, it's a solid 2-3 nights of tranhuman espionage gaming for $10.00, so it's good value for your money.
I bought it before you wrote it, so nyah!
Looking forward to the playtest.
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To day I learned...
That someone ran Lover in the Ice as a Dark Heresy scenario (https://faith-and-betrayal.obsidianportal.com/wikis/lover-in-the-ice).
It ended with the Seppuku Protocols being enacted in the form of an orbital defense laser battery. That sounds like a successfully game...right?
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Any Dark Heresy game that doesn't end with "Purge the planet" is a wasted opportunity.
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Caleb, were you aware of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_string_of_fate
when you wrote Fisher of Men?
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Listening to the Devotees playtest was almost like taking a class in module design--you could really see the rules coming out: existing social conflict (including established factions and outsiders), a timetable (but with plenty of lead time for planning), the existing players in the setting have their own motivations and plans (and they will play out unless the player characters interfere), clear and objective standards of success (but many come with a cost), challenges in different arenas (combat, social, technical).
Kudos.
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for Caleb
http://www.spacewolflimited.com/product/true-detective
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I am really looking forward to A Very Thorough Murder part 3. It's been damned good so far. Major kudos to GM and players.
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Caleb has rapidly become a favorite in my recent game of catchup with RPPR games. also working up a game system myself the last few months, he and Ross's workshop episodes have been both helpful, entertaining, and an insightful sell that's got me itching to hear and read more on Red Market
also the Dungeon World game just been outstanding sort of fantasy game. really an ideal I like to see: hits the big fantasy tropes, but have a big "fuck you, boredom" curve thrown in with the giant corpse island
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Eclipse Phase is now up on the Bundle of Holding (http://bundleofholding.com). (2 days left)
And Calebs Devotees just got added to the loot pile.
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Just got around to listening to Erasure Squad, and I have to say my favorite bit was easily the death of Igor.
"I got i-" "I got-" "I got it-"
*DEAFENING AUTOMATIC GUNFIRE*
Although "prove you're a real human" was also pretty hilarious. I'll have to borrow that for future EP games. :p
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I cannot wait to listen to Caleb run Base Raiders! It will be glorious!
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Just got around to listening to Erasure Squad, and I have to say my favorite bit was easily the death of Igor.
Although "prove you're a real human" was also pretty hilarious. I'll have to borrow that for future EP games. :p
Yeah, a kind of inverse-Turing test. It was definitely brain-fodder, along with Augustine and "how do we make a good/not-actively-genocidal seed AGI?" ideas for something in my current campaign, where they try to teach a seed AGI empathy through a kind of modified Turing test.
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Yeah, a kind of inverse-Turing test. It was definitely brain-fodder, along with Augustine and "how do we make a good/not-actively-genocidal seed AGI?" ideas for something in my current campaign, where they try to teach a seed AGI empathy through a kind of modified Turing test.
If you're looking for more ideas along those lines I'd suggest My Invisible Friend (http://www.aleph.se/EclipsePhase/My%20invisible%20friend.pdf) by Anders Sandberg; it's about scientists trying to teach a Seed AI human morality by slaving it to actual living children and forcing it to watch them mature and develop socially and mentally.
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I'll definitely check it out. My current concept is prospectively titled "Trinity" because names are hard and it's made of three parts so whatever.
Parts 1 and 2 are the seed AI's, carefully constructed and slightly hobbled in their hardware so that they lack the capacity for improving themselves but have the capacity to improve the other. So 1 cannot improve 1, it can only improve 2 and the vice versa. Currently, the AIs are named Romulus and Remus.
The third component is a human overseer. The overseer bridges the gap between Romulus and Remus, permitting or preventing the improvements from going through. The human overseer can communicate with the AIs and will ask them to justify why each change should be permitted and experiment parameters are to 'reward' selfless acts through narcoalgorithms.
The idea is that the AIs learn empathy and to value others by having their improvements come from another party, encourage them to help others and 'train' them via neural network learning patterns to think in terms of morality, helping others etc. Of course, a nice bonus to that would also be that they'd learn to see humans as authority figures and at the end of it you have not one but two god-machines on your side. The downside is of course that it's slower due to the human factor.
Currently, I'm thinking of ways it can go wrong (because otherwise whoops no story). My main idea of how it goes wrong is this: while neural networking allows AIs to learn 'organically' in a way similar to people, the problem is that no matter what data you feed them and how you train them, they aren't necessarily learning the lesson you think you're teaching them. The classic example for this is a real-world satellite AI I read about that was fed different pictures, some of which had concealed tanks in, to train it to spot hidden enemy vehicles. However, what it actually 'learned' was the ability to differentiate the pictures based on light levels in the pictures because the darker pictures were taken after the tanks had been put in place.
So essentially, a failing of the Trinity set-up is that rather than teaching the AIs to value humans, it teaches them how to manipulate humans and set up very Machiavellian mindsets - helping others only in ways that allow you to benefit.
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I was going to suggest that the lesson the AIs learn is "improving people is nice, so that's what we'll do!" without actually explicitly defining just what "improvement" means, so when the Firewall team inevitably shows up to find out how the experiment fucked up they find a station full of people who have been "improved" in various horrific ways: cyberbrains spliced together to form a gestalt consciousness that can think faster and analyze problems from multiple angles, xenomorph specimens abound, fresh Watts-Macleod carriers who have gone insane from having their minds ripped open, etc etc. That might be too Dead Space depending on the tone of your game, though.
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That is one option, though I don't want to come across as too one-note and the last mission the players had involved a fun trek in the ruins under New Mumbai where stuff was, you know, awful in a Dead Space-y kind of way. (Thanks, Zone Stalkers 'random fucked-up-shit table'!) So it is possible that taking it that route would be a bit too much Dead Space at one time. I can spin it out a bit with some social and investigation stuff to GET to Trinity and I'm honestly a bit tempted to throw the whole thing out to replace it with the Oracle AI from Think Before Asking - a great example of a scary IDEA.
The other option they might take (though given their mentalities I think they recognize the AI as more urgent) involves Pax Familia infiltrating LLA banks to cash out massive amounts of rep and snap two economies over her knee simultaneously.
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If you want to keep it from getting too Dead Space-y, instead of having space zombies for them to fight you could just have the station be full of people who have been "improved" but don't actually attack them; the real threat comes from the Seed AIs trying to corral them into the medbay with the station's systems so that it can "improve" them as well. For additional scary idea points, make the improved people out to be obviously inhuman and horrific to the sentinels while also emphasizing that, technically, they are better than most transhumans and actually seem happy with their current state in a twisted sort of way. Be sure to underline the fact that, when you get right down to it, what the Seed AIs are doing is the logical extrapolation of the entire transhuman ideal; it's the same principle as loading yourself up with biomods or nanoware, just multiplied by an order of magnitude or two.
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"To the Room!" new favorite quote.
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"To the Room!" new favorite quote.
what is that from?
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"To the Room!" new favorite quote.
what is that from?
It is from the Call of Cthulhu: The Sense of the Sleight of Hand Man episode 4, When they are going to go do drugs.
Edit: 2:04: 10 ish
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I couldn't think of anywhere better to put this but I thought that Caleb and Ross would love it and wanted to bring it to their attention.
It's a six part British T.V series called Utopia, it's an awesome series about a group of misfits who accidentally end up on the wrong side of a ruthless conspiracy. It's hard to say more about it without giving the plot away, but the show feels like Caleb decided to sit down and write a Nights Black Agents game and leave out the vampires. The youtube link is the opening scene of the first episode and it does a much better job of selling the show than i'm failing to do here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01VGtX9xfh0
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It's probably indicative of Caleb's mad ingenuousness that his speech patterns have infected me while I GM. Then again I've been exclusively GMing Caleb's scenarios to alternatively horrified/thrilled players. That said, if Caleb's games are some kind of weird basilisk hack that slowly turns me into a larval Caleb I would not be surprised.
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Have you been giving your players options by starting sentences with "So here's the thing..."? Speaking of actually, whenever my group gets around to playing Numenera I have ideas for cyphers, the magic items in-world, based around Caleb and Ross: The Stokesian Trap Detector and the Rossian Choice Analyzer! When I run upon a potential deathtrap(or traps) the astral voice of Mr. Stokes rings in my ears, "So here's the thing..." and tells me about the dangers ahead, but only like once a day or so. The thing is, no matter what, you're kinda boned.
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It's mostly that I keep using the word "horrific" and use emphasis the same way he does. There's also "You can do it, but..." which interjects some PC decisions when they've forgotten something that their characters would have remembered.
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Just listened to the Gencon economics panel, and though there was plenty of good stuff, what really blew my mind was the Marxist interpretation of slasher films. The upper-middle-class protagonists are placed into a setting of real or implied poverty because the trappings of poverty are a threat to their sense of security... Brilliant!
...Which is now making me think of that bit in Pervert's Guide to Ideology where he talks about Titanic as the story of the upper class using the culture of the lower classes to refresh their sense of vitality. Slasher films kind of work in the exact opposite way...
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A "Call the Midwife" CoC adventure is definitely needed. I always suspected there was more to Sister Monica Joan's insanity than Alzheimer's.
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When I heard that reference in the last actual play I was suddenly thankful for my wife's Netflix marathons.
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A "Call the Midwife" CoC adventure is definitely needed. I always suspected there was more to Sister Monica Joan's insanity than Alzheimer's.
As a British listener, it's really strange for me to hear you guys talking about what is, for me, middle-aged-lady TV. Though, yeah, our cuisine isn't great. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is great, but beyond that.. Yeah, my stomach is a fan of globalism.
If you're looking for more British TV for inspiration, I really recommend Peaky Blinders. It's the right period (post WW1 Birmingham), deals with insanity and conspiracy from the perspective of a small local bookie's gang. Several major characters have severe mental problems following the horror of the Somme. And a major inciting incident in the first season's story is a petty heist at a factory ending up being something They Weren't Expecting when they nabbed the wrong shipment, which can go Cthulhu pretty fast.
Also it has Cillian Murphy and Sam Neil, which is nice.
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Just finished the 100th episode special. I hope Caleb someday plays the paraplegic 12 year old boy who cons the other players into taking damage and dying for him. Brilliant if he can pull it off.
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I enjoyed playing old World of Darkness with my friends and I think the backstory of Mage and Vampire make for great dramatic backdrops. I unabashedly love most of the setting and I think the simplicity of the system has value.
Whenever I say this, someone inevitably drops a hair raising story about roleplaying with some nest of what can be charitably be called people who were far too into WoD. These stories make me grateful that I grew up on the west coast and played with rational people even though we were teenagers. Also I never went to Cons or Larps. That may have something to do with my favorable experiences as well.
When I heard Caleb would never play World of Darkness I was all prepared to write a persuasive post about how the system is actually very good for narrative combat that would complement the Stokesian GMing style and the setting has a lot of dramatic depth that he could plunder, etc. etc.
Then I listened to Caleb's story about the Fun Factory and World of Darkness. http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2013/01/podcast-episode/rppr-episode-82-back-that-story-up/ (http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2013/01/podcast-episode/rppr-episode-82-back-that-story-up/)
Hear that? That's the sound of me crumpling up all my arguments and throwing them in the trash.
(Seriously from ribbing Ross about Cinnabar to that story at the end, I was howling with laughter)
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Oh, man. I didn't remember the details of the Fun Factory story, so I relistened to the episode. Wow.
But I agree with you about World of Darkness, Twisting H. All through High School, I really wanted to play Mage with somebody. But a combination of parental disapproval, lack of gamer friends, and introversion meant I never got the chance. I'd still like to give it a spin someday, though.
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Anyone else starting to jones for a caleb run game? I'm starting to jones for a Caleb run game! *sits in the corner shivering.*
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Anyone else starting to jones for a caleb run game? I'm starting to jones for a Caleb run game! *sits in the corner shivering.*
(http://i.imgur.com/UINk6mR.jpg)
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He has felt a little absent from oneshots lately. And I guess he's not in Masks. He's all over the place in B-Sides 2, though, if you haven't gotten em yet! There are, like...five, seven Caleb-run games, and he plays in more.
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man i'm a terrible dealer - first 100 hits were free and only now i'm charging for caleb games
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man i'm a terrible dealer - first 100 hits were free and only now i'm charging for caleb games
You are just playing the long game Ross. You got people begging you to take their money for Caleb games now and they think it was their idea. That is the mark of a great dealer.
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Ah, that sweet song of the corners. Got that B-sides! Got that B-sides!
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man i'm a terrible dealer - first 100 hits were free and only now i'm charging for caleb games
*twitch... scratch scratch* How many money units for another Caleb campaign?
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he's mentioned on the talk podcast that he has a whole conspyramid written out for NBA...and that he wants to run Unknown Armies =| if Caleb ran UA for RPPR my world would end. too many favorite things all in one place
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he's mentioned on the talk podcast that he has a whole conspyramid written out for NBA...and that he wants to run Unknown Armies =| if Caleb ran UA for RPPR my world would end. too many favorite things all in one place
His NBA conspyramid is quite the sight to behold. You can find it if you do some digging, but then there's pontential spoilers if it ever gets played, which I hope happens one day.
As for UA, Greg Stolze has been tweeting pretty regularly about his progress on the new edition, which is looking like it'll be 3 books! This is sounding like another Kickstarter to lighten my wallet already!
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As for UA, Greg Stolze has been tweeting pretty regularly about his progress on the new edition, which is looking like it'll be 3 books! This is sounding like another Kickstarter to lighten my wallet already!
I KNOW RIGHT? I saw on one of those lesser forums that he was considering doing one earlier this year, then the other day I go to Twitter and check #UnknownArmies and Greg's most recent tweet is that he's, like, a thousand words from finishing each one. the text is supposed to be done now. ...but he had some other discouraging comments about having no idea when we'd see them. something like, "when you're writing it, you think that's the hardest part. but then you go on to the next hardest part, and then the hardest part after that." I'm sure he'll do it, but yeah, crowdfunding a high-production values book to a niche audience is no joke, specially if you're doin hard copies.
I keep trying to convert my World of Darkness friends to the UArk side, but it seems like a lot of people kind of just...decide on the game they're gonna do and do it forever, even when their meth labs explode.
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I keep trying to convert my World of Darkness friends to the UArk side, but it seems like a lot of people kind of just...decide on the game they're gonna do and do it forever, even when their meth labs explode.
Hey! Most of us play next to our meth houses, not in them. We're not idiots.
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Hey! Most of us play next to our meth houses, not in them.
This is the Caleb appreciation thread, remember? WoD in a meth lab house is all but tradition! :P
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Hey! Most of us play next to our meth houses, not in them. We're not idiots.
I've never had a regular tabletop group, so all my WoDery is on MUSHes, where there are a lot of, um...not...so happy and overcompetitive players, which makes the "we let the writers write all the rules and didn't playtest this at all" factor stand out. Flimsy mechanics are fine in tabletop with friends, but around internet strangers who wanna WIN, it can get a little tense.
But I have to admit I didn't associate prosey internet nerds with exploding drug dens until that story.
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But I have to admit I didn't associate prosey internet nerds with exploding drug dens until that story.
You would have if you'd played in college. Damn horror show. But it was what the attractive girl in your English class did and gave you a reason to talk to her. Then you saw some of the other people in the cafferia and decided that this wasn't for you until you moved out and meet some new people who played. And even then they were weirder than most people but more or less decent. What were we talking about?
Oh right, death traps. Kids, don't game in meth labs. They're the pintos of drug lairs. Game in opium dens, that shit be high class.
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Oh right, death traps. Kids, don't game in meth labs. They're the pintos of drug lairs. Game in opium dens, that shit be high class.
All sorts of pillows to relax on and silk curtains to section off playing areas. So nice.
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he's mentioned on the talk podcast that he has a whole conspyramid written out for NBA...
(http://i.imgur.com/psnjeTc.jpg)
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he's mentioned on the talk podcast that he has a whole conspyramid written out for NBA...
(http://i.imgur.com/psnjeTc.jpg)
I could just link it, but it's so much better if you find it. Feels more thematically appropriate.
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It really isn't that hard to find. The concept for vampirism is especially cool.
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It really isn't that hard to find. The concept for vampirism is especially cool.
Link for the google-fu handicapped?
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If I don't look up the Conspyramid, I can continue to quixotically hope that one day I might actually play in that game...
In other Caleb news, I'm going to run Bryson Springs this Sunday for some folks.
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so this is retro as fuck:
after Caleb's first-run game ever, AKA the best game ever, Andrew's Fortune, he mentioned on a talk podcast that he'd been inspired by the Burke novels of Andrew Vachss, child advocacy lawyer by day, child abuse neonoir PI expy by novelistic night. I read his first few books and mostly liked em--problem was usually the femme fatale-of-the-month being way too prominent and annoying and Burke-is-insta-into-this-chick-y for me to buy it. I have to admit I wondered for a while if he really did have the experience he claimed with kids, or if he was making it all up.
Then I discovered his interview with Oprah from 1992. http://www.wallsofsilence.com/watch.php?vid=de8bac478 (http://www.wallsofsilence.com/watch.php?vid=de8bac478)
I'm still not completely sure Vachss is really as educated and dedicated as he sounds, but that's just because I'm not sure any words ever spoken aren't lies. the rhetorical hammers he breaks out are peerless. his narrative still sounds a little "Satanic preschools" sometimes, but I urgently prefer to hope that he's some semimythical figure, dispensing truth with one hand and indomitability with the other.
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Caleb brainstorming his NBA Conspyramid:
(https://onewdesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/black-lagoon-26-mushrooms-are-awesome.jpg?w=950)
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Caleb mentioned...somewhere a piece of software available online that allows you to put words in circles and connect them to other circles with sticks. It basically allows you to diagram a plot with the "clustering" method but a lot easier to work with than powerpoint.
This is driving me nuts. Does anyone remember the software used or where he talked about it? I know it was for one of his projects but that doesn't narrow it down.
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www.prezi.com (http://www.prezi.com) is what you're looking for. If you find Caleb's account you'll get to see the outlines for Know Evil, the unfinished Golgotha Account, and stuff for some classes he's taught.
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Edit: Kamen beat me to it, so here is a link to the Golgotha account, which was mentioned but not linked previously in this thread: https://prezi.com/4zwq4fqok2r6/the-golgotha-account/
(The link was from the comments in Games I Shan't Be Running originally.)
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I'm glad you guys found the Prezi page. Sorry I didn't post it sooner.
If you want to see more evidence of my half-finished "mad genius"... :P
http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php/topic,1926.0.html (http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php/topic,1926.0.html)
Ahem (coughs. awkwardly shuffles away)
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Thanks guys!
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Uh.
So.
I was reading The Unspeakable Oath #21. Greg Stolze creates a Mythos tome called "Engines Underground" for the Mysterious Manuscript column.
The author is described as:
There is absolutely nothing special about him. Stokes
is a bitter, sarcastic man in his thirties—in personality
somewhere between Jake’s causticity and Harry’s selfeffacement.
He reacts to fannish appreciation with hollow
astonishment. If threatened, he cringes. If interrogated,
he is flatly honest about knowing nothing, nothing at
all, unusual about his book. If asked about the main
character’s last name, he says he made it up. Presented
with testimonials from readers who recall different Jake/
Elise subplots, he falls back on skeptical empiricism.
“Which is more likely? That my book has weird mystical
properties, or that people are negligent readers? Hardly
anyone liked it. Why would you expect them to get minor
details right?”
He’s happy to assure them that he has written no followup
and has no intention of writing another novel, ever. He
likens it to asking a one-legged man to cut the other off for
balance.
There’s nothing else to learn from Stokes, and obsessed
Investigators are likely to pointlessly torment a crabby
young man if they fail to accept that. His only observation
of value would arise as a parting shot when they leave.
“My book is decisively, aggressively nothing special.
Whatever you think is going on with it, it could happen
with any book. Any book at all.”
Caleb does know Stolze from No Soul Left behind so...
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I am replying to Game Designer Workshop Episode 8 here because it is easier to link images in the forum.
Caleb brought up the question (iirc) of "am I writing too much of my own personal philosophy into the game"?
Red Markets as currently described is an extremely novel game. It reminds me of Eclipse Phase when I first picked it up. It was full of interesting High Concept ideas, but how do you implement it? To be honest, I didn't get a good read from any of the Eclipse Phase books or adventures on how to run a campaign UNTIL Know Evil came out. In fact I think that is one of the non trivial elements that has contributed to Know Evil's popularity.
So I agree with you Caleb that you need to be very specific and clear about how your game runs and what players will be getting into.
To an extent you are running into the Dark Souls problem. Dark Souls frustrated a lot of people except those who were willing to accept something new. Dark Souls failed in explicitly informing its audience that it was a different type of game until the Prepare to Die edition was released, and that is ONLY because "Prepare to Die" is in the title. It is an instruction and a descriptor.
The game that successfully prepares its audience for its unique type of gameplay? Darkest Dungeon.
(http://i.imgur.com/Z4I1CVrh.jpg)
Less than a page, and no references to other games.
Recently there was a International Roguelike Developer Conference where the question of "how do you engage an audience to keep playing and learn from permadeath" was addressed.
(http://i.imgur.com/ThjoQNZh.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/KqZ8QBmh.png)
The talks are archived here I believe: http://www.twitch.tv/irdc_usa/profile/past_broadcasts (http://www.twitch.tv/irdc_usa/profile/past_broadcasts)
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It's a good thing we're recording a Know Evil-esque campaign right now. Same moral dilemmas, same picaresque plot, same sympathetic robots.
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Twisting H: I think that issue of Unspeakable Oath was from 2011. So, most likely a coincidence, especially given how much it predates No Soul Left Behind.
Speaking of No Soul Left Behind..
(from the pdf proof)
"If your group knows the score or just wants a one-shot, feel free to skip this part. I’m disappointed in you, but it won’t be on the test. I just wish you would apply yourself and achieve your full potential, you know? Tsk tsk tsk."
As a TA, I especially enjoy the "it won't be on the test" disclaimer. The following section on charter schools is likewise great.
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Speaking of No Soul Left Behind..
(from the pdf proof)
Ah! Thank you for reminding me to grab that.
...also first time poster. I ended up listening to RPPR because of Know Evil and had no idea that Caleb was a relatively new gamer before running that.
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Twisting H: I think that issue of Unspeakable Oath was from 2011. So, most likely a coincidence, especially given how much it predates No Soul Left Behind.
They did both play in Adam Scott Glancy‘s The Night Mission (http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com/2011/09/systems/call-of-cthulhu/call-of-cthulhu-the-night-mission/) at GenCon that year though.
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JUST BOUGHT MY DIGITAL COPY OF NO SOUL LEFT BEHIND OFF DRIVETHRURPG
CURRENTLY SCREAMING WITH JOY
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I got my digital copy last night! I love the portrait of my character in the book: he looks like a goofball with no plan trying to be serious.
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Thanks for giving it a read guys!
If anybody wants to write a review, (either on RPGNow or elsewhere) it would be greatly appreciated.
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Thanks for giving it a read guys!
If anybody wants to write a review, (either on RPGNow or elsewhere) it would be greatly appreciated.
Only if you get me in an actual online game not cursed by Florida hurricanes. *Shakes fist at the sky*
But yeah, I'll be writing a review once I finish reading it.
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I'm a little late to the party on this one but I wanted to share anyway:
In the midst of moving into my apartment here in Seattle after a cross-country move, I got an email saying my backer reward was going to ship. I was able to get it redirected to my Seattle address, so here's the fruits of Caleb's delicious labor:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLwvh_pUsAESuL1.jpg)
Once I find a group out here, I'm going to run them through it!
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Caleb is on another recorded Panel from GenCon 2015
Here: http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/ (http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/)
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Caleb is on another recorded Panel from GenCon 2015
Here: http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/ (http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2015/08/episode66/)
I do have to disagree with one thing that Caleb said on that panel. I think that a The Back Of The Turtle (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23621558-the-back-of-the-turtle) Fate rpg could be interesting. I could try playing Sonny: Wham! Wham!, Hammer! Hammer!
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I wanted to give my gaming group a little taste of Stokes goodness before we dive into a Red Markets playtest so we're doing The Dangers of Fraternization and it's been a hit so far. They're loving the ADW system and the horrible people their characters are.
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Office hours were slow so I combined a saying that Caleb mentions on GDW (very relevant for grad school as well as game design) with a somewhat related cover image.
http://imgur.com/Shm3Nda (http://imgur.com/Shm3Nda)
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God's Teeth Chapter 1, Go Forth just dropped. It should remind everyone again of who the master of horror gaming is. Hats off to you, sir.
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God's Teeth... Good God, God's Teeth. I wanna talk spoilers, but don't know if this is the place. The only thing I'll say is I thought I came to the scariest thing, then Caleb kept elevating it. The only game that scared me was Preemptive Revenge, but this just sits with you afterwards. And we're only a third of the way in. Instant classic.
I wonder if he has pitched this to Arc Dream? I know Red Markets is the main burner, but even only one ep in and this seems to be the perfect way to introduce Delta Green II. The (deserved, no matter what the posters on the AP site say) trigger warning I can understand why it might be questionable, but this game is what DG is all about.
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This and Lover in the Ice are two great ways to initiate new players and PC's into Delta Green. So fantastically well written.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Just finished Red Thoughts. Fantastic series. Well roleplayed by all and the primal concept will be churning in my mind for some time.
I am reminded of another roleplaying book that had a different take on teeth and hunger from a primal perspective. In the Old World of Darkness (yes I know you have very good reason to run screaming from the thread Caleb) there was a book Kithbook: Redcaps from the Changeling the Dreaming line. It was written by Rich Dansky.
As a bit of explanation, in Changeling the Dreaming, players chose a character who was both human and had a faerie soul. Essentially this means they had a physical body but they could also interact with a dimension called "the Dreaming" sort of like a virtual reality overlay on the physical world. The Dreaming dimension was created by the hopes, dreams, fears and nightmares of humanity. The faerie soul of each Changeling was created in the antediluvian past by the same forces of human belief.
Redcaps were one type of faerie ("kith" thus "kithbook") that traced their lineage from stories like the hungry Giant in Jack in the Beanstalk, river hags, legends of cannibal Picts and entities like Rawhead Bloody Bones.
Mechanically, Redcaps had the ability to eat and digest anything no matter what material if they spent a point of magic. Roleplaying wise, except for one round after the use of this consumption they were always hungry.
Kithbook: Redcaps begins with the following piece of fiction.
A Memory of Teeth
Being a Tale of How the Redcaps Got Their Bite...In a Way.
"What can you remember?" asked the old man of the boy. He was ancient, the old man was, with arms like oak driftwood that had been too long at sea. He had a beard, ragged and white, that spilled down from his long chin like a waterfall, and he had strong hand that looked like they could wring tears from a stone. His mouth was wide and his smile was cold, and he wore a battered hat the color of rust on his head. He sat on a boulder in on of the wild places of the world, looking out over a valley carpeted in trees wearing red and orange leaves, and his gaze passed over the boy like the brush of a forgetful ghost.
The boy sat at the base of the boulder and looked up at the old man. He was small and wiry, and had the same cruel features that the old man on the stone did. He, too, had strong arms and strong hands, but his cap was bright and new.
"I remember my birthday," the boy said, "When the other childlings came to play with me, and the duke cut my cake with his sword, and let me have the first piece. There were musicians there, and dancers. I remember that, and I remember they gave me a songbird as a gift. They asked me what I had done with it later, and I told them that I had set it free. They believed me."
The old man nodded, once. "That's good, that's a fine start. But that's what you remember, Alaric. You-as-you-are-now. What do you remember?"
The boy Alaric looked thoughtful for a moment. "I remember when I when I was small," he said, and shifted where he sat. "I was always hungry. Never cold, but always hungry. I learned not to cry, though. It never helped to cry. Instead, I learned to wait."
The old man flicked a piece of moss from the stone, the only sign of his impatience. "Impressive," he said, "but not what I am asking. Go past who you are, Alaric. Think about what you are. Think about where you came from, why you are what you are now. Where did those teeth come from, Alaric? Who game them to you?" And with that, the old man smiled a crooked smile that showed a palisade of crooked fangs.
"I remember..." the boy said uncertainly, and stopped.
"Yes?" the old man breathed, barely audible. "Tell me, boy, tell me what you know deep in your bones."
"I remember the dark," Alaric said. "I remember the dark and the cold of the tower, and looking out of the one window. There was a ladder made of rope, but it had rotted away and I couldn't leave. So I had to call them up." Alaric's breathing was shallow, and the voice he spoke in had a rasp to it like a battered hacksaw, drawn across stone. His eyes were open, but they didn't see the old man. "They'd find a way. They'd always find a way."
"And then what?"
"And then...I don't remember."
The old man shook his head. "You don't want to remember, that's what it is, boy. Deep down you know, though. Deep down you know. So go back again," he said. "Further."
The boy's breathing was labored now, and old man's wheeze. His eyes had gone pure black, without pupil or iris. "I remember the old times. We were in the rivers, then, and we'd reach up to grab the children by their ankles. Their mothers had told them not to play near the waters, that the rivers were hungry, but they didn't listen. We'd reach up from the weeds and clutch at them, and if we were lucky we'd snatch them away like they'd never been there. Some of them screamed, but not for long." He paused for a moment, and looked almost thoughtful. "You can't scream for long, down in the weeds."
"Further," the old man breathed. "You're almost there, boy. What does it feel like where you are now? When you are now?"
Alaric whimpered. "It's dark..."
"It's supposed to be dark, boy! It was all dark then, except right up close to the fires. Everything else was shadows under the eaves, and we were there, weren't we? Weren't we?"
"Yes." The boy's voice is quiet, almost inaudible.
"What was that?"
"Yes, oh yes, I see now."
"Good." The old man leaned in close. "What do you see?"
"I see the firelight, and men sitting around in it. Their backs are to the fire, and they watch the shadows because they know we are there. They know that if they go into the shadows, the claws will tear and the jaws will catch and they'll vanish. They know there's something waiting for them in the forest, something that will swallow them and hunger for more. They know that the forest and the darkness can devour everything they are, everything they can be, and they are afraid. That's why they stay close to the fire. They know that this place is older than they are, old and terrible. They know they're not welcome in this world, and that it will swallow them up as if they never had been. The wild places want them. We want them."
The old man nodded slowly, daring only to breath the word "further." If the boy heard him he gave no sign, but he clutched his arms to his sides and shivered.
"It's cold," he said. "We're cold. We are the cold. Snow is everywhere. Snow and ice. There is a old man, telling stories. He looks like you do, grandfather. He has your eyes. The others sit around and listen. I can't see myself here. I can't see any of us, but I know we are here. They know I am here, too.
"The old man who looks like you is looking at me. He is telling them about the wind. The wind has teeth, he says. It will devour them, so they must seek shelter. They must keep moving towards the sun, or the wind will chew the flesh from their bones. He is looking at me, grandfather. He knows we are here. The others are looking too, now, but they do not see me. They believe, though. They believe. Every word he says makes us stronger, and they believe."
With a cry, the boy pitched forward. The old man made no move to break his fall, but merely sat, and watched, motionless. At some indeterminate point in time, a squirrel chose to investigate the motionless tableau a little too closely. At first it would barely venture onto the rock before darting back, but as the long minutes past it lost its fear of the two unmoving figures in front of it. With a jaunty strut, the squirrel stepped out onto the boulder, and surveyed the scene.
The old man reached out, fast as a striking snake, and caught it. The squirrel chittered in fear for a moment as he regarded it, then without a word he tore off its head with his teeth. Blood spurted onto his fingers, the stone and the still unmoving Alaric, but only for an instant. Without hesitation, the old man opened his mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the rest of the squirrel, whole, then almost daintily licked his fingers clean.
At his feet, the boy stirred. "About time, boy," the old man said. "When I did that, it took me half as long to get my sense back. You're keeping us here," and he gestured out over the valley, vaguely, "with the sun going down. We don't want to be caught out here after dark, do we?"
Alaric sat up and grinned that same impossible grin his grandfather wore. "We've been out in this dark for ten thousand years, grandpa. What's one more night?"
Off in the distance, something moved under the trees. There was a flash of color, dim in the twilight. It could have been a deer, could have been a bird, could have been a backpacker trying to make a few more miles before sundown.
Alaric didn't care. Neither did his grandfather. Together, they loped off in the appropriate direction, swiftly. After all, they were still hungry.
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Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the standard and premium editions of No Soul Left Behind on DriveThruRPG? I'm possibly being stupid but I can't seem to see anywhere that tells me.
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Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the standard and premium editions of No Soul Left Behind on DriveThruRPG? I'm possibly being stupid but I can't seem to see anywhere that tells me.
I believe that refers to the print quality of the book.
http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color- (http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color-)
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I believe that refers to the print quality of the book.
http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color- (http://support.drivethrurpg.com/entries/23834863-What-is-the-difference-between-Premium-Color-and-Standard-Color-)
Cheers Ross. I'd never even thought about it being a Drivethrurpg print option. I thought I might be getting something extra :-)
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God's Eyes is a great update on one of Lovecraft's running themes: that the relentless, often oblivious march of technology can expose man to things he might wish to remain ignorant of. Fucking love it, that's definitely going to inspire my scenario ideas from now on.
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God's Teeth released on the 16th and now this on the 24th!
Several fossilized teeth from a prehistoric Megaladon shark have washed up on a beach in North Carolina.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/10/24/prehistoric-shark-teeth-washes-up-beach-pkg.witn (http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/10/24/prehistoric-shark-teeth-washes-up-beach-pkg.witn)
Signs and symbols Caleb, signs and symbols.
God's Eyes is a great update on one of Lovecraft's running themes: that the relentless, often oblivious march of technology can expose man to things he might wish to remain ignorant of. Fucking love it, that's definitely going to inspire my scenario ideas from now on.
Really good point.
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For Kickstarter backers The Lover in The Ice Delta Green 2 edition dropped today. It's awesome to see the story back in it's natural habitat.
Also, I thought I was one for dropping Easter Eggs! There's some lovely ones; hopefully referencing things to come. Still no parrot though :(
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God's Teeth discussion. Spoilers Ahead
My guess for what was going on in Go Forth was totally off the mark but it might be useful if someone else wants to run a Go Forth/Red Thoughts scenario with an alternate resolution.
Initially I was pretty convinced that the notorious half-melted Hello Kitty folder was the VHS tape from True Detective Season 1, with the same contents. Also I thought that the Wayfinder's children's home was eerily like the Skoptsi.
The problem to me was that there didn't appear to be any signs of a Shub-Niggurath cult. The unnatural bloated woman could have been a lot of things. Obviously I missed clues but bear with me that's what I was thinking.
So I was trying to deduce what the cult was doing. We knew it involved children with an unnatural attachment to animals, very unnatural behavior by animals, video tapes and documentation of something, and a bunch of dead bodies. Also the thing I couldn't figure out is why did the Delta Green contact order that the children be removed? That implied that the children were some sort of vector or infected or dangerous in their own right.
But if the children or the cult were an imminent threat, then Delta Green would have dealt with it themselves. It would not be the crusade of one lonely Delta Green handler. Why not rescue the innocent victims unless they were fundamentally toxic?
Then Wesley Young pointed out that Caleb was referencing the story "Sredni Vashtar". So I hopped off to read it.
http://faculty.tnstate.edu/lpowers/Short%20Story/Saki%20Shredni%20Vashtar%20Bull%20Open%20Window.pdf (http://faculty.tnstate.edu/lpowers/Short%20Story/Saki%20Shredni%20Vashtar%20Bull%20Open%20Window.pdf)
Great weird fiction story by the way Caleb. How did you come across it?
My interpretation of the "Sredni Vashtar" story was that a child under dire threat, summoned or created a God. Then I thought the name "Wayfinder" children's home was a clue.
Was the cult's purpose to bond a child with an animal only done for psychological control? Was the cult actually using the children as test subjects? In fact trying to make each child suffer so much that they replicated the "Sredni Vashtar" protocol and that each child would eventually generate an Outer God? Was "Wayfinder" the literal goal of the cult, finding a way to breech what ever barrier existed between desperate human faith and deity generation?
Was the cult actually a factory? This would explain the bodies under the snow. Failed experiments. Failed children. It would also explain the tapes and photographs. Instead of the darkest of human sins, did the tapes simply contain unholy scientific documentation and refinement of the process?
That would explain why Delta Green didn't consider them an immediate threat. No slithering horror had been generated yet, the Sredni Vashtar protocol was still being refined. And this would (in my mind) somewhat explain the unnatural woman/cult leader. Only an immortal (a guess) unnatural cultist could oversee such a long term project.
And maybe that would explain too why the victims were scene as vectors. No Lesser Outer God to serve and pipe in Azathoth's court had been generated yet but the procedure was close and the children's very presence did terrible damage to the membrane of reality (which would explain their unnatural behavior and localized effect on the animals) and thus the Delta Green handler gave the order to remove the vectors.
And somehow teeth, and semi-sentient black ichor, and a pile of rat skulls fit into this terrible plot someway but I wasn't sure.
I totally missed the mark, but perhaps someone will find this fun tangent of speculation useful!
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For Kickstarter backers The Lover in The Ice Delta Green 2 edition dropped today. It's awesome to see the story back in it's natural habitat.
(http://38.media.tumblr.com/b6c95a8d134c373eb0f3f16536f1a034/tumblr_nnn34prIYY1upmlz8o1_400.gif)
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Well that was extremely unusual.
So the coffee place I usually go to was closed so I walked up half a block. What do I see? A coffee/beer bar with boardgames galore running a boardgame designer's workshop at 9pm to about 11. Walking in as if I'm in a daze, as if it's Christmas no one told me and there is a fucking pony riding a F-16 under the tree with my name on it, I order some coffee and start talking to the gent behind the counter.
Of course I bring up RPPR.
Of course he's heard of it.
"Yeah I liked that Call of Cthulhu podcast with the marionettes" he said.
"Oh Bryson Springs?" I respond reflexively surprising the hell out of myself. "You know the author is Caleb Stokes and working on this project called Red Markets?"
Fast forwards to a few minutes later, I've written down the words "Lover in the Ice," "Wives of March," "God's Teeth," "Know Evil," and "drivethroughRPG pay what you want" and pass it to the gent like they are the code words to break the Enigma machine.
I'm sitting here drinking coffee, ten different games being playtested around me and I'm wondering if somehow I passed on today and was ascended into the ranks of the gamers' Einherjar.
Dude.
Congrats on your fame guys.
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Where is this store located?
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Sent PM. If you did not receive, please inform.
Also seen the Bryson Springs pdf being thrown around /tg/. Or maybe it was the Red Tower.
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/tg/ has regularly linked to RPPR - sometimes I see the referrer link quick enough to actually read the thread before it gets deleted.
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@Twisting H
Thanks for the word of mouth! I appreciate it.
As for the PM, I haven't received anything. Use the email address provided in the playtest; it's the best way to contact me.
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So, after my group pushed off and then outright refused to try out Red Markets [which I said I'd beta several months ago--sorry Caleb, the people I play with are quite fickle!] we ended up playing a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics because it seemed hilarious, and ended up being so.
Now, I've been tasked with setting up a fantasy game based around the peasants from the DCC game, and I gave flow-charting a try, since I remembered that Caleb mentioned that he used it for Know Evil.
Holy crap, I've never had such an easy and enjoyable time planning anything. And it was fun. I just moved around some colored bubbles, and boom, I've got the framework for a 4-5 session mini-campaign with [reasonably] compelling choices.
Thank you so much RPPR--and Caleb especially--for introducing me to the magic that is the relative misappropriation of software used in corporate boardrooms.
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So, after my group pushed off and then outright refused to try out Red Markets [which I said I'd beta several months ago--sorry Caleb, the people I play with are quite fickle!] we ended up playing a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics because it seemed hilarious, and ended up being so.
Now, I've been tasked with setting up a fantasy game based around the peasants from the DCC game, and I gave flow-charting a try, since I remembered that Caleb mentioned that he used it for Know Evil.
Holy crap, I've never had such an easy and enjoyable time planning anything. And it was fun. I just moved around some colored bubbles, and boom, I've got the framework for a 4-5 session mini-campaign with [reasonably] compelling choices.
Thank you so much RPPR--and Caleb especially--for introducing me to the magic that is the relative misappropriation of software used in corporate boardrooms.
Wait...you're gonna play Dungeon Crawl Classics beyond the character funnel?? Tell us how it goes!
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I've been going through my backlog of podcasts, and in one of them Caleb mentions students who want to be professional poets, which reminded me of this poem:
http://youtu.be/R1dc9OaS8GU (http://youtu.be/R1dc9OaS8GU)
I suppose that Caleb may already be familiar with Al Purdy, but this thread seemed like the best place to share this.
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I've been going through my backlog of podcasts, and in one of them Caleb mentions students who want to be professional poets, which reminded me of this poem:
http://youtu.be/R1dc9OaS8GU (http://youtu.be/R1dc9OaS8GU)
I suppose that Caleb may already be familiar with Al Purdy, but this thread seemed like the best place to share this.
Thanks for sharing that, CADmonkey. Good stuff.
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Wow.
If you are going for RPPR tshirts with quotes this gencon I nominate this one from the Brutalist 2 comments
Caleb: That’s why I made the face of the organization such an insufferable hipster; when you want someone to spy on and betray their own countrymen, you pick the biggest asshole you can find.
Goddamn.
Edit: Agree with people in that thread. RED MARKETS: THE DEBT DIES WITH YOU is pretty hardcore
tshirt slogan.
Also SHUTUP AND TAKE THE PAYCHECK. Or some variant of Caleb's quote like QUESTIONS OR PAYCHECK: DECIDE.
Also: Being a hero isn’t something you can just decide to do; it has a cost
Caleb also mentioned the news stories about the DHQS being worried about invasion by the Chinese, North Koreans or Alaskan holdouts.
This got me thinking. How would a small units fighting each other, enclaves fighting with warmachines or even small nation-states like the DHQS try to take and hold land in the Red Markets universe?
Not exactly Red Markets: Fury Road but something like that.
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stop asking questions and take the DAMN payday
My exact words.
Your formulation is more elegant though.
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Oh hey look. Someone published Caleb's nightmares
RIFTS!!!
https://www.peginc.com/ (https://www.peginc.com/)
RIFTS® for Savage Worlds Kickstarter Starts April 26!
This is your save-the-date card for a gaming marriage of massive proportions—RIFTS® for Savage Worlds! That’s right, the gonzo Megaversal adventure of RIFTS® is teaming up with the genre-spanning easy-prep award-winning Savage Worlds system you know and love, and the Kickstarter is running from April 26 to May 19. It’s such a big deal that we’re even running the Kickstarter campaign a week longer than we normally do!
Set aside April 26 on your calendar and come to the RIFTS® for Savage Worlds Kickstarter kick-off. See the backer rewards for players and GMs alike, start reaching the Stretch Goals, and get in on the ground floor of the magic and mayhem!
YEAAAAAH. CAN YOU FEEL IT???
(http://i.imgur.com/Ymq96hk.jpg)
(Caleb after this post)
(http://i.imgur.com/HYT0cr5.gif)
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Oh hey look. Someone published Caleb's nightmares
RIFTS!!!
https://www.peginc.com/ (https://www.peginc.com/)
RIFTS® for Savage Worlds Kickstarter Starts April 26!
This is your save-the-date card for a gaming marriage of massive proportions—RIFTS® for Savage Worlds! That’s right, the gonzo Megaversal adventure of RIFTS® is teaming up with the genre-spanning easy-prep award-winning Savage Worlds system you know and love, and the Kickstarter is running from April 26 to May 19. It’s such a big deal that we’re even running the Kickstarter campaign a week longer than we normally do!
Set aside April 26 on your calendar and come to the RIFTS® for Savage Worlds Kickstarter kick-off. See the backer rewards for players and GMs alike, start reaching the Stretch Goals, and get in on the ground floor of the magic and mayhem!
YEAAAAAH. CAN YOU FEEL IT???
(http://i.imgur.com/Ymq96hk.jpg)
(Caleb after this post)
(http://i.imgur.com/HYT0cr5.gif)
Sorry Caleb. I can't support RedMarket any more. I have to spend all my money on Bringing RIFTS back to the world.
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Because we all know that rehashing of nostalgic 80 game is far better then anything new and initiative that can be made fresh. I hope you haven't spent to much time on Red Market.
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To sarcastic ?
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This thread seems like the right place to post this:
https://vimeo.com/165015837
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If you ask, it will be...
(http://pre04.deviantart.net/3dc5/th/pre/i/2016/148/c/d/the_struggle_of_the_red_markets_by_crazon-da43sfc.jpg)
This should be a new Dread Gazebo meme.
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What exactly did he say that lead you to make that picture? It looks rather specific.
Good one thou
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What exactly did he say that lead you to make that picture? It looks rather specific.
In the latest Red Markets AP (http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com/2016/05/genre/horror/red-markets-beta-the-brutalists-episode-8/), Caleb found himself in a battle with his chair, over possession of his own shoe.
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When I was listening I was sorely tempted to start the hashtag "#SaveCalebsShoe".
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Looks like one of those political cartoons. :)
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From episode 9 of The Brutalists:
"Pay for TacNet! I am OWED! I am owed so much!"
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From episode 9 of The Brutalists:
"Pay for TacNet! I am OWED! I am owed so much!"
This was so so good.
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Hey Caleb. In the NPC cast interview you mentioned you liked exploring the space of economically disadvantaged people encountering cosmic horror.
I have a recommendation.
Children of the Old Leech
Ostensibly a bunch of authors playing in the mythos of Laird Barron, Tenebrionidae by Scott Nicolay and Jesse James Douthit-Nicolay, details what happens when a hobo riding the rails in southern ghost towns runs into Barron's carnivorous cosmos. There are parts of this that remind me of Ligotti's descriptions of supernatural places.
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Old-Leech-Tribute-Carnivorous-ebook/dp/B00LHDTDGG?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&redirect=true&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect (https://www.amazon.com/Children-Old-Leech-Tribute-Carnivorous-ebook/dp/B00LHDTDGG?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&redirect=true&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect)
The underlying irony is that malignant cosmic horrors also see economic success as an irrelevant illusion.
It is very good.
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Regarding the Aberrant in Episode #9 and the above discussion about tac-net.
Hooligantuesday
June 2, 2016 at 10:21 pm
Did nobody else notice that Caleb basically just made Tac-Net into an aberrant monstrosity?
:o
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Also a Red Markets expansion book that detailed Left 4 dead aberrant isn't a bad thing. I understand wanting to be completely original in the core book, but as a customer I don't see a problem with a direct port of existing zombie archetypes into Red Markets as an homage or using those ideas as inspiration.
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Caleb, I've started listening to the After Hours podcasts and the review of that Judge's Guild Traveller adventure reminded me: You mentioned reading a bunch of rpgs with financial/economics systems in them, did you look at Traveller? If you haven't, I'm not suggesting you've missed something, I'm just curious to hear your opinion on it. In my own experience, the default mode of play in Traveller is "Free Merchants with a Tramp Freighter" which often turns into a game of "Papers and Paycheques" (but then again I've only ever played Traveller with bureaucrats).
And I think I may actually be more interested to hear your opinion of some of the fiction that Traveller was inspired by, like H. Beam Piper's Space Viking (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20728). In fact, I'd love to see your face the first time you lay eyes on the illustration of the "Gilgameshers" (who thankfully didn't make it into Traveller).
And also, I'm amazed that you actually watched all of the Atlas Shrugged movies. I had to watch the King Vidor adaptation of The Fountainhead in college; that was enough Ayn Rand to last me a lifetime, you could not pay me to read anything she's written or sit though another film adaptation of her work.
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Nothing fancy to say here, other than I ordered a physical copy of The Devotees! In a week or so I should have all the EP game books.
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And I think I may actually be more interested to hear your opinion of some of the fiction that Traveller was inspired by, like H. Beam Piper's Space Viking (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20728). In fact, I'd love to see your face the first time you lay eyes on the illustration of the "Gilgameshers" (who thankfully didn't make it into Traveller).
Love hearing about what novels and media inspired RPGs originally.
If you didn't already know, A Canticle for Leibowitz was the primary spark for the Fallout franchise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz)
I put it up there with Dune and the Asimov Foundation Series. It's that good.
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And I think I may actually be more interested to hear your opinion of some of the fiction that Traveller was inspired by, like H. Beam Piper's Space Viking (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20728). In fact, I'd love to see your face the first time you lay eyes on the illustration of the "Gilgameshers" (who thankfully didn't make it into Traveller).
Love hearing about what novels and media inspired RPGs originally.
Yeah, Traveller isn't solely based on Piper's books, but if you read any of his 'Terro-Human Future History' stories, you'll find Traveller ingredients in them.
If you didn't already know, A Canticle for Leibowitz was the primary spark for the Fallout franchise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz)
Yep, I read it in highschool and quite liked it (unlike a lot of classic sf that I tried to read back then, actually).
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I'm pretty sure Caleb's game history and games that have been recorded for RPPR is pretty much the same - i.e. no Traveller.
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Alright, I don't usually come to forums not already on a site I visit, but I feel like RPPR deserves it.
Naturally, my first post will be gushing about one of my favorite members of the crew.
As we're here, there's no point in disguising the fact that said member is Caleb.
I am extremely close to finishing absolutely every posted RPPR, be it on the main podcast or actual play, that involves Caleb. Including Haunting multiple times. He's really one of the best parts of the podcast for me.
It's actually getting a little hard to listen to the games that don't have him in it, because he makes everything so much better just by being there. Including Aaron. That's awfully hard to do, but somehow he does it.
Caleb is the type of player that most DMs would hate, he points out the flaws in the logic, be it his own or others, comes up with insanely creative solutions for problems with limited resources, and is a good DM in his own right. It's not easy to DM for other DMs, but somehow both Caleb and Ross manage to pull it off. And I have to give them massive props for that.
If I had absolutely any internet money, being the poor teenager that I am, I would have supported him multiple times already. Don't worry Caleb, I'll be getting a job soon. Just turned 18. Get ready for some sweet Patreon or Residual fees, depending on whether or not I could adequately run No Soul for my group.
I've been going on quite long enough, so I'll end this by saying thank you for everything. Really.
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RPG writers don't get royalties for their work, in general, but supporting Arc Dream is worth your support as well. You can always jump in a Patreon for one month to download the entire backlog and then stop.
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That reminds me. I need to pick up a copy of No Security.
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@CaptainLazar
Wow! Thanks for the kind words. That really made my day! And don't worry about the money thing; I get being poor, and I try to release as much stuff for free as I can. Anything you can provide is appreciated, but I'm just psyched you like my work. Thanks.
@Adam_Autist
You DO need a copy of No Security. It's going to be a collectors item after Red Markets turns into a heartbreaker to rival that of Synnibarr. You can claim to have known the work of the new Raven McKracken before he was cool.
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I finally got a print copy of The Devotees last week so it can go next to that. (Side note I only need to have X-Risks come out in print for me to have all the main Eclipse Phase books).
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(http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pvponlinenew/img/comic/2017/01/pvp20170127.jpg)
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Exceptionally late update:
Since the last post I made, I have since bought the Red Markets digital rewards Backerkit, patroned the Mixed Six, and I'm fairly sure actually succeeded in listening to all the Caleb actual plays. I regret almost absolutely nothing.
Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь, HAIL COMMUNIST CALEB!
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Exceptionally late update:
Since the last post I made, I have since bought the Red Markets digital rewards Backerkit, patroned the Mixed Six, and I'm fairly sure actually succeeded in listening to all the Caleb actual plays. I regret almost absolutely nothing.
Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь, HAIL COMMUNIST CALEB!
Good job! Be sure to catch up on the Snippets of Adventure segments on the Mixed Six patreon. They're quite funny.